This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/usffan on 2024-08-03 18:56:40+00:00.

You can find the start of this series with links to all teams here

Nobody got the short end of the stick in the latest realignment musical chairs like San Diego State. After being pretty much assured of joining the Pac-12 after USC and UCLA had announced their departure to the B1G, they informed the Mountain West they were going to leave, only to have the Big XII pull the rug out from under them by enticing Colorado to leave the Pac-12 and thus the remaining house of Pac-12 cards to collapse. This after the Aztecs had actually joined the Big East before the basketball schools pulled the rug out from under them again. They enter 2024 with a significant fresh start with former Kent State head coach Sean Lewis, who was among the first to experience life in the Deion Sanders Colorado fishbowl and managed to grab the Aztecs’ lifeline. Perhaps taking a page from the Deion playbook, he is giving the team quite a makeover, with only 49% of their productivity returning from last year’s 4-8 team, but he hit the portal hard (29.87, 2nd in the MWC) such that 7 of the projected offensive starters (including former Florida State QB AJ Duffy and WVU WR Ja’Shaun Poke) and 20 total players on the two deep rosters are transfer players. He also hit the recruiting trail pretty hard (171.46, 3rd in conference), so the shelves have been restocked enough that FPI (-3.4) has San Diego State 3rd in the conference. They’re much higher on the Aztecs than Sagarin (60.84), which has them in the bottom half. Here’s their 2024 schedule:

8/31 TEXAS A&M-COMMERCE (W)

9/7 OREGON STATE (L)

9/14 at California (L)

9/21 BYE

9/28 at Central Michigan (W)

10/5 HAWAII (W)

10/12 at Wyoming (W, coin toss)

10/19 BYE

10/26 WASHINGTON STATE (W, coin toss)

11/1 at Boise State (L)

11/8 NEW MEXICO (W)

11/16 at UNLV (L, coin toss)

11/23 at Utah State (W, coin toss)

11/30 AIR FORCE (W, coin toss)

Outlook I definitely think Sean Lewis is going to turn things around quickly in San Diego, and the Aztecs will be bowling this year. They could be a dark horse to play in the conference championship game, especially with Tedford retiring in Fresno, so don’t be surprised to see Lewis’ name on lots of coach of the year ballots.