No Soft Part of Schedule for SDSU

A Friday morning newspaper column says the San Diego State football team has reached "the cupcake portion of its schedule" with Saturday's game at winless New Mexico, a subsequent road contest at Wyoming and a home match vs. Colorado State.

Uh, no.

First of all, a program that compiled a 6-18 record the past two seasons can't have any part of its slate termed "cupcake."

Second, given the weak schedule this season, the opening Nicholls State-New Mexico State portion was where the cupcakes could be found.

Finally, the comment does not comport with the current facts.

-- The BYU game showed that SDSU's defense does not match up well with big, strong offensive lines, particularly on the road. New Mexico, if nothing else, has a big group of blockers. The Aztecs should win, but it will be no rout. I see this game as low-30s to low-20s-ish, especially since the Lobos are returning key players from injury.

-- Wyoming is just 2-5 but by one formula has played the fifth-hardest schedule in the country, and Laramie has never been fun for Aztecs teams in rebuilding mode. The team with the fourth-hardest is BYU, which physically manhandled the defense before resorting to cheating in the replay booth to hold onto the victory.

-- Colorado State has seven freshmen and sophomores in its starting lineup, including first-year players at quarterback -- Peter Thomas of Valhalla High -- and and center. In the last two weeks, the Rams gave Air Force a game in Colorado Springs and creamed UNLV. They're improving rapidly.

I can see the Aztecs going anywhere from 3-0 to 1-2 in this stretch of games so, at worse, they'll be left a game away from bowl eligibility with the sorry Rebels still to be played. But this won't be an easy part of the schedule, by any means.

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BTW, maybe it's just me, but TCU does not look as powerful as last year. I bet Utah takes them in Salt Lake City, and it would not shock me if Air Force comes off their loss here last week by upsetting the Froggies in Fort Worth.

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Interesting to see that opposing coaches want to see Steve Fisher's SDSU men's basketball team to prove itself before placing them in the Top 25. They'll begin the season in the coaches' poll 26th. I can't say I blame them, frankly.

The schedule has no big-name opponents other than Gonzaga unless you follow hoops closely. Saint Mary's, Wichita State and UC Santa Barbara are all very good. Long Beach State and Cal are pretty good, too. The AP writers poll will come out soon enough, and we'll see what they say. Five other polls -- magazines and stuff -- SDSU ranked.

If they hit mid-December with only one loss, they'll be in the Top 25.

I'm really looking forward to see if now-eligible transfer James Rahon (Torrey Pines High) can fit Fisher's system and maintain his long-range shooting touch, and just athletic freshman Jamaal Franklin really is.