The Battle on the Midway
The SDSU Men's basketball team will open the 2012-13 season against Syracuse on the USS Midway.
"We are very excited to be participating in the Battle on the Midway," SDSU head coach Steve Fisher said. "We look forward to bringing the focus of the nation to the military, the city and San Diego State University with this wonderful event.
"It is natural for SDSU to take a part in an event which will showcase our community to the country," Fisher added. "The fact that we are playing Syracuse, the top-ranked squad for most of this past season and a perennial top-10 team, will help make it a national draw."
Two of the best face off
The two programs have been among the best in the nation over the last seven years having advanced to the postseason and winning at least 20 games in each of those campaigns. The Aztecs and the Orange have also appeared in the NCAA Tournament three consecutive years and won at least 25 games the last four seasons.
This past year both programs enjoyed a ton of success as the Aztecs finished the season with a 26-8 record, advanced to the NCAA Tournament and won the regular-season Mountain West championship, while being ranked in both national top-25 polls the final 11 weeks of the campaign. The Orange, meanwhile, appeared in the Elite 8, won the Big East regular-season championship and posted a 34-3 record in 2011-12.
Series history
The schools have met only once before with Syracuse claiming a victory in the second round of the 2007 postseason NIT. That game set a NIT attendance record as 26,752 fans watched the game inside SU's Carrier Dome and is the only meeting between Fisher and Jim Boeheim. In fact, the coaches are two of only 12 active head coaches to have won a national championship.
Television arrangements for the game will be announced at a later date as will ticket information. Tickets for the game will be extremely limited and school allotments have yet to be determined.
Schedule taking shape
With the addition of the Syracuse to the 2012-13 schedule, the Aztecs are now set to play the Orange on a neutral court, UC Santa Barbara and San Diego at home, USC on the road, and will compete at the 2012 Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Diamond Head Classic field includes Arizona, Indiana State, Hawai'i, Miami (Fla.), Ole Miss, San Francisco and Texas Tech.
Heading into 2012-13, San Diego State is set to return four of its five starters and its top four scorers from this past season. The Aztecs are also slated to welcome three Division I transfers and a heralded recruiting class to what returns next year.
