Three letters bear a curse in college athletics for several schools. Those letters are W, A and C.
The Western Athletic Conference is notorious for being underrated and underprivileged. How can five Pac-10 teams go to the men’s basketball tournament when only three WAC teams go? What explanation is there for six Pac-10 football teams playing in bowl games while only three WAC teams got to play? A few of the WAC teams, such as Wyoming, had better records than teams from the Pac-10.
San Diego State has felt the brunt of this burden, both nationally and within the WAC. When our football team beat No. 16 Wyoming, the Associated Press decided that we were not worthy of national recognition.
Despite an All-American running back (George Jones) and the No. 2-rated quarterback in the nation in pass efficiency (Billy Blanton), SDSU remained unranked. And who can forget the women’s basketball team that, after winning the WAC Championship, was seeded lower than Utah, the team the Aztecs beat?
But taking a look from a different perspective, that is not so surprising. With a decent record last year and a roster full of returning players, it was speculated that the football team could win the WAC. Honestly, I think we had the talent to do that and to go to a bowl game. However, we shot ourselves in the foot by losing to the 0-10 University of Nevada-Las Vegas team.
Our men’s basketball team, after going 15-14 overall and finishing sixth place in the 1995-96 season, started this season in spectacular fashion. From there it was all downhill, ultimately missing the chance to go to the WAC postseason tournament.
Despite the phenoms that SDSU has produced in recent years, such as Marshall Faulk and Travis Lee, Aztec athletics still does not get the support and recognition it deserves.
Perhaps even more disappointing is the lack of support that SDSU gets from its own student body. It seems like Aztecs athletics is doomed from the start no recognition nationally, no respect within the conference and no support from the student body.
I have trouble understanding why fan support at SDSU games is so poor. Season tickets for the 1997 football season are only $15 for students. If that is too expensive, you can always get the free student ticket. All you need to get a good seat at baseball games is a student I.D. card. With deals like these, it makes me wonder what fan support would be like if students were charged to watch SDSU teams play.
Perhaps one of the reasons that SDSU does not get overwhelming support is because people don’t know what we have to take pride in. For whatever reason, assumptions are made that SDSU teams aren’t good at anything. This is not true.
The women’s track team’s Miesha McKelvy, recently ran the fifth fastest time in the 100-meter hurdles in the nation and will attend the NCAA National Championships in June. The women’s water polo team is ranked No. 4 in the nation, and several players are on the U.S. national team.
Our women’s tennis team is ranked 31st in the nation. The softball team is having its best season ever with a 25-19 record and is ranked No. 36 in the nation.
And who could forget the tremendous accomplishments of our women’s basketball team? Simply put, we have a lot to be proud of.
And things will only get better.
The addition of the top-rate facilities will be a boon to SDSU athletics. Already SDSU is hosting the WAC championships for track and field. With the construction of the Tony Gwynn Stadium, we will now be hosting the WAC championship for baseball as well.
With the new Aztec Bowl Arena, SDSU will host the first and second round of the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Tournament and the NCAA Division 1 Women’s Volleyball Championships in the year 2001.
The championships that will be here will bring a lot of attention to SDSU, at least from within the conference if not nationally. A snowball effect will begin; players out of high school and junior college from across the nation will become interested in SDSU athletics, creating more prospective recruits.
The larger our choice of recruits are, the more selective we can be in getting top-ranked players, which in turn will make our teams better, thus giving us even more recognition. The process then begins again.
All in all, there is a lot to be proud of about SDSU athletics. Our teams may not yet be winning national championships, but they are constantly fighting for support, respect and recognition.
The least we can do is give it to them.
