So far, so good for San Diego State's athletic fortunes as of the middle of Friday morning. One domino fell Thursday -- Colorado to the Pac-10. One dropped Friday, Boise State to the Mountain West Conference. One likely to tip over Friday afternoon will be Nebraska to the Big Ten.
My initial reaction to all this is the Big 12 departures don't affect the Aztecs at all other than they might spark other moves.
Boise State to the MWC is a much bigger deal. SDSU is now in a 10-team league, which means that in football they will not play every conference mate every year. There's going to be someone who gets to play UNLV while avoiding BYU, or someone who has to take on all the big boys but misses Colorado State. There are a lot of leagues in which that's okay, where all the teams are of about the same quality, but in the case of the MWC, you have the big dogs and the wiener dogs.
Second, there has been a lot of talk about BYU, Texas Christian and/or Utah filling the Big 12's holes or, in the case of the Utes, joining the Buffaloes in the Pac-10. I'm not sure Boise would have come over to a new about-to-be eviscerated conference, so they must have received assurances that the Big Three will remain.
Third, Boise State puts the MWC over the top as far as BCS auto bid requirements go. That bar might be raised by realignment, but it will be hard to keep them out. Finally, after all these years, Aztecs coaches will be able to recruit on the same playing field as everyone else.
Fourth, as long as they're at 10 schools, they might as well go to 12 or 14 because that's where the other leagues are headed. If the Big 12 collapses, picking up Kansas and K-State is a no-brainer. Missouri is dicey because they're pretty slimy. Houston out of C-USA would be a good pickup, adding a Texas partner for the Horned Frogs.
Fifth, there is renewed talk Friday about a last-ditch effort to keep the Big 12 together, sans Colorado and Nebraska. If it works, there is no reason why the MWC couldn't invite Houston and Fresno State, or Houston and SMU.
There's still a chance things will turn sour. The top MWC teams could still leave and relegate SDSU back to a lower tier of competition. Stay tuned.
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It's been such a great week for local pitching products. Add Vista HS's Trevor Cahill to the list. Cahill Thursday won his fourth straight start, 6-1 over the Angels. He threw a career-high 8 innings, scattered six hits and walked only one batter. He received a standing ovation on his way off the mound when he was finished. Cahill is now 5-2, 2.91.
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