The San Diego State Aztecs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent San Diego State University (SDSU). The university fields 17 varsity teams (6 men's, 11 women's) in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, primarily as a member of the Pac-12 Conference. The Aztecs football team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level of NCAA football competition.
The women's rowing team competes in the American Athletic Conference, its women's water polo team participates in the Golden Coast Conference, and its men's soccer team is a single-sport member of the Pac-12 Conference. The ice hockey team competes in the ACHA with other western region club teams.
SDSU's athletic teams are called the "Aztecs". The Aztecs nickname was chosen by students in 1925. The mascot is the Aztec Warrior, formerly referred to as "Monty Montezuma". Team colors are scarlet (red) and black. As of 2021, athletes from the university had won 14 medals at the Olympic Games.
Contents
History
The first major sport on campus was rowing, but it initially had no coaches or tournaments. Other sports that developed early in the campus's history were tennis, basketball, golf, croquet, and baseball. Early on, the school's football program had such a limited selection of players that faculty had to be used to fill the roster. When the college merged with the junior college in 1921, the college became a member of the Junior College Conference. After the school won most of the conference titles in a variety of sports, the league requested that college leave out of fairness to the smaller schools. For its football program, the team outscored its opponents 249 to 52 in ten games, resulting in the first sales of season tickets in 1923. From 1925 to 1926, the college played as an independent. It then joined the Southern California Conference in 1926, where it did not win a football conference championship until 1936. However, in other sports including tennis and basketball, it excelled. The college remained with the conference until 1939, when it joined the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
The basketball team reached and won multiple championship games during the 1930–1940s, including a conference title in 1931, 1934, 1937, and 1939. It reached the national championship in 1939 and 1940, losing in the final rounds. However, in 1941 the college returned and won the college's first national title. In track, the team won conference titles in 1935, 1936, 1937, 1938, and 1939. The football team won conference titles in 1936 and 1937, and the baseball team won three conference titles and placed second three times between 1935 and 1941.
In 1955, the Aztec Club was established and raised $20,000 a year by 1957. The club worked in increasing athletic scholarships, hiring better coaches, and developing the college's intercollegiate athletic programs. In 1956, students approved through a vote of allowing a mandatory student activity fee, with a portion going to athletics. By the end of the decade the budget had doubled to $40,000. The campus's most successful sports program during the 1950s was cross-country, when the team won eight straight conference titles and AAU regional titles and placed high in national competitions. Basketball teams ranged from last in the conference to multiple conference, regional, and national appearances. The football program had its first undefeated team in 1951, but in the last part of the decade earned the worst records in the school's football program under the direction of head coach Paul Governali.
Sports sponsored
Men's varsity sports
Head Coach: Shaun Cole
Stadium: Tony Gwynn Stadium
Conference regular season championships: 5 (1986 • 1988 • 1990 • 2002 • 2004)
Conference tournament championships: 8 (1990 • 1991 • 2000 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2017 • 2018)
NCAA Division I Baseball Championship appearances: 14 (1979 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1986 • 1990 • 1991 • 2009 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2017 • 2018)
See: San Diego State baseball and College baseball
Head Coach: Sean Lewis
Stadium: Snapdragon Stadium
Conference championships: 19 (1922 • 1923 • 1924 • 1936 • 1937 • 1950 • 1951 • 1962 • 1966 • 1967 • 1969 • 1970 • 1972 • 1973 • 1974 • 1986 • 2012 • 2015 • 2016)
NCAA postseason bowl game appearances: 20 (1948 Harbor Bowl • 1952 Pineapple Bowl • 1966 Camellia Bowl • 1967 Camellia Bowl • 1969 Pasadena Bowl • 1986 Holiday Bowl • 1991 Freedom Bowl • 1998 Las Vegas Bowl • 2010 Poinsettia Bowl • 2011 New Orleans Bowl • 2012 Poinsettia Bowl • 2013 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl • 2014 Poinsettia Bowl • 2015 Hawaii Bowl • 2016 Las Vegas Bowl • 2017 Armed Forces Bowl • 2018 Frisco Bowl • 2019 New Mexico Bowl • 2021 Frisco Bowl • 2022 Hawaii Bowl)
San Diego State University's football team is part of the highest level of American collegiate football, the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I (which was formerly known as Division I-A). SDSU is 10–9 all time in post-season bowl games. They first went to a bowl game in 1948 and first won a major-college bowl game in 1969. Until the 2010 season, the Aztec football team had not won a bowl game in the past 37 years. In 2019, the Aztecs reached their 10th straight bowl game.
Women's varsity sports
Head Coach: Stacie Terry-Hutson
Arena: Viejas Arena
Conference regular season championships: 6 (1994 • 1995 • 1997 • 2009 • 2012 • 2013)
Conference tournament championships: 4 (1994 • 1997 • 2010 • 2012)
NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament appearances: 9 (1984 • 1985 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1997 • 2009 • 2010 • 2012)
Head Coach: Shelia Burrell
Home field: Morley Field
NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship appearances: 1 (1981)
The San Diego State Aztecs women's cross country team has appeared in the NCAA tournament one time, with that appearance resulting in 7th place in the 1981–82 school year.
Head Coach: Lauren Dobashi
Mountain West Conference championships: 2 (2015 • 2019)
Notable alumni include 2015 graduate Paige Spiranac.
Head Coach: Kylee White
Home field: Aztec Lacrosse Field
Conference championships: 2 (MPSF) (2018 • 2019)
The women's lacrosse team began play in 2012 and will play its first season in the Big 12 Conference in spring 2025. The Aztecs had played in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation before that conference dropped the sport after the 2021 season (2020–21 school year) due to a lack of competing members. They then spent the next two seasons as an independent before becoming an affiliate member of the Pac-12 Conference in the 2024 season, the last before that conference's collapse. The Aztecs became one of the six inaugural members of Big 12 women's lacrosse, joined by full members Arizona State, Cincinnati, and Colorado plus fellow affiliates Florida and UC Davis.
Conference affiliations
San Diego State has been a member of seven different athletic conferences in its history.
Southern California Junior College Conference (1921–1924)
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1926–1938)
California Collegiate Athletic Association (1939–1967)
Pacific Coast Athletic Association (1969–1975)
Independent (1925, 1968, 1976–1977)
Western Athletic Conference (1978–1998)
Mountain West Conference (1999–2025)
Pac-12 Conference (2026–present)
Former sports
In the past, San Diego State, like most American universities, has sponsored several additional varsity sports programs to those currently offered. These programs have since been discontinued. Budgeting and Title IX equity challenges have been cited as the primary reasons for these programs being cut. In some cases (notably men's crew and men's volleyball), club teams have emerged in place of discontinued sports programs.
Men's former varsity sports
Crew
Year discontinued: 1976
Cross Country
Year discontinued: 1993
NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship team appearances: 3 (1968 • 1970 • 1976)
NCAA Men's Division II Cross Country Championship team national championships: 3 (1965 • 1966 • 1967)
The Aztecs men's cross country team won three consecutive NCAA Division II national championships in 1965, 1966, and 1967 shortly before the program's ascension to Division I.
Gymnastics
Year discontinued: 1974
NCAA Men's Gymnastics Championships team appearances: 1 (1959)
Swimming & Diving
Year discontinued: 1985
NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships team appearances: 1 (1969)
NCAA Men's Division II Swimming and Diving Championships team national championships: 2 (1965 • 1966)
Men's swimming & diving won back-to-back NCAA Division II national championships in 1965 and 1966 shortly before the program's transition to Division I.
Track & Field (Indoor and Outdoor)
Year discontinued: 1992
NCAA Division I Men's Indoor Track and Field Championships team appearances: 1 (1979)
Women's former varsity sports
Field Hockey
Year discontinued: 1978
Gymnastics
Year discontinued: 1985
Year discontinued: 2021
The women's rowing team, which had last competed in the American Athletic Conference, was discontinued following the 2020–21 academic year due to ongoing Title IX gender equity challenges and financial stress on the athletics department brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The team's home was the Mission Bay Aquatic Center.
Athletic facilities
Non-varsity club sports
In addition to the varsity sports officially sponsored by the athletic department, San Diego State also supports several club-level sports, most operating through the Aztec Recreation Center.
Sports with both varsity and club-level teams at the university include baseball and soccer among men's sports, and lacrosse, soccer, volleyball and water polo among women's sports.
Co-ed club teams
Cycling
Sailing
Skiing & Snowboarding
Surfing
Tennis
Triathlon
Waterskiing & Wakesports
Men's club teams
Baseball
Crew
Ice Hockey
Lacrosse
Rugby
Soccer
Ultimate Frisbee
Volleyball
Water Polo
Women's club teams
Dance
Gymnastics
Lacrosse
Soccer
Ultimate Frisbee
Volleyball
Water Polo
Championships
NCAA tournament appearances
The San Diego State Aztecs have competed in the NCAA tournament across 16 active sports (6 men's and 10 women's) 191 times at the Division I FBS level.
Baseball (14): 1979 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1986 • 1990 • 1991 • 2009 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2017 • 2018
Men's basketball (14): 1975 • 1976 • 1985 • 2002 • 2006 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2018 • 2021 • 2022
Women's basketball (9): 1984 • 1985 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1997 • 2009 • 2010 • 2012
Women's cross country (1): 1981
Football (18): 1947 • 1951 • 1966 • 1967 • 1969 • 1986 • 1991 • 1998 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 • 2019
Men's golf (23): 1960 • 1962 • 1965 • 1966 • 1967 • 1970 • 1976 • 1977 • 1978 • 1979 • 1980 • 1981 • 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1999 • 2003 • 2005 • 2008 • 2011 • 2012 • 2015 • 2016
Men's soccer (8): 1969 • 1982 • 1987 • 1988 • 1989 • 2005 • 2006 • 2016
Women's soccer (7): 1998 • 1999 • 2009 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2017
Softball (11): 2001 • 2003 • 2006 • 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 2022
Women's swimming and diving (8): 1982 • 2010 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2017 • 2019
Men's tennis (7): 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2002 • 2003 • 2005 • 2015
Women's tennis (22): 1982 • 1983 • 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1989 • 1990 • 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2002 • 2003 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2009 • 2013
National championships
The Aztecs of San Diego State have earned 1 NCAA national championship at the Division I level.
Men's Volleyball (1): 1973
San Diego State won 7 national championships while at the Division II level.
Men's cross country (3): 1965, 1966, 1967
Men's track and field (outdoor) (2): 1965, 1966
Men's swimming and diving (2): 1965, 1966
The Aztecs also claimed 3 national team titles at the varsity level while a member of NCAA Division II that were not bestowed by the NCAA (being awarded instead by sponsors of College Division football polls):
Football (3): 1966 (both polls), 1967 (both polls), 1968 (coaches' poll) (NCAA College Division)
Basketball (1): 1941 (NAIA)
SDSU's cheerleading and dance teams have won national championships.
Cheerleading (2): 2009, 2011
Dance (1): 2011
Below are eleven national club team championships:
Men's badminton (1): 1976 (ABA)
Flowboarding (1): 2011 (CBS)
Rugby (1): 1987 (USA Rugby)
Sailing (2): 1968, 1969 (ICSA)
Surfing (2): 2007, 2013 (NSSA)
Individual Championships
San Diego State has had 15 individuals win NCAA individual national championships at the Division I level.
At the NCAA Division II level, San Diego State garnered 14 individual championships. In 1975 Barbara Barrow won the women's national intercollegiate individual golf championship after a tie-breaker playoff (an event conducted by the AIAW, which was succeeded by the current NCAA women's golf championship).
Rivals
BYU
SDSU athletics has had a rivalry with the BYU Cougars of Brigham Young University since at least the 1980s when both programs were members of the Western Athletic Conference. The rivalry intensified after both schools left the conference to become charter members of the Mountain West Conference in 1999. Through their many years in the same conferences, the Aztecs and Cougars were routinely tough competition for conference championships in numerous sports among both the men and women. The Cougars departed the Mountain West in 2011, though the programs continue to compete semi-regularly. Men's basketball and football have represented the most high-profile contests of the rivalry.
Fresno State
San Diego State has a longtime rivalry with California State University, Fresno, primarily stemming from the American football rivalry dating back to the 1920s. The two schools have competed against each other in over 55 football, 50 men's basketball, and 190 baseball matches.
San Diego
The Aztecs have a local rivalry with the University of San Diego's San Diego Toreros, emphasizing the competition in college men's basketball. The rivalry has featured many competitions in neutral locations such as Petco Park across many sports.
UC San Diego
Though more of a rivalry historically outside of sports, the University of California, San Diego, the other major public university in San Diego, represents another local rival of SDSU. The UC San Diego Tritons joined NCAA Division I in 2020. Similar to the way SDSU's student section, The Show, refers to the San Diego Toreros, they often refer to the UC San Diego Tritons as the "little brothers" or "little sisters".
San Jose State
El Camino Real Rivalry
The rivalry between the two Cal State schools dates back to 1935. The matchup is named after the historic 600-mile Camino Real that connects the 21 Spanish missions in California, stretching from San Diego Bay in the south to San Francisco Bay in the north.
In 2014, there were conversations between the two programs about creating a trophy using an old mission bell or a replica of an old Spanish mission bell to be awarded to the winner of the rivalry game, but no trophy ever materialized.
Aztec Hall of Fame inductees
See: Hall of fame and footnote
Notable athletes
See also the List of San Diego State University people
Marcelo Balboa, World Cup and Major League Soccer (MLS) soccer star
Bud Black, former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher and manager of the Colorado Rockies
Jim Campbell, former MLB pitcher
Joe Corona, current U.S. international soccer player
Isaac Curtis, former National Football League (NFL) receiver
Jeff DaVanon, former MLB player (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Fred Dryer, actor-producer and former NFL player
Herm Edwards, Arizona State University head coach
Marshall Faulk, Pro Football Hall of Fame NFL running back and broadcaster
John Fox, former Carolina Panthers, Chicago Bears, and Denver Broncos head coach
Mark Grace, retired MLB player and World Series champion
Tony Gwynn, Baseball Hall of Famer (and San Diego State baseball head coach at the time of his death in 2014)
Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, former NFL player with the Green Bay Packers
Joe Gibbs, former NFL head coach of the Washington Redskins and current NASCAR team owner