Advance notice for San Diego State football fans — keep the last Thursday in August open on your schedule.

SDSU announced its 2025 schedule on Tuesday, listing the four non-conference games and eight Mountain West opponents on its 12-game schedule.

The Aztecs will open the season on Thursday, Aug. 28, against Stony Brook at Snapdragon Stadium. It is the third time in program history (2002 and 2006) that the season starts on a Thursday. It is the first Thursday game for SDSU since a 42-7 win over Cincinnati in the 2015 Hawaii Bowl.

Why Thursday? Stony Brook inquired about the potential for a Thursday game to assist with travel on a holiday weekend. It benefits the Aztecs because it will give them two extra days off in preparation for the season’s second game at Washington State.

The 2025 season marks the last time the Aztecs will play in the Mountain West before moving intro a reconstituted Pac-12 in 2026.

SDSU’s home conference opponents are Boise State, Colorado State, San Jose State and Wyoming. The Aztecs will play road games against Fresno State, Hawaii, Nevada and New Mexico.

No dates have been set yet for the MW games, though most should be on Saturdays. Some games could be moved to weekdays — typically a Friday afternoon or evening — for television. SDSU typically plays two Friday games each year. Games during the 2024 season against Boise State and New Mexico were both on Fridays.

Kickoff times and TV broadcast networks — the Mountain West partners with CBS and Fox — will be announced in the spring.

Dates are set for SDSU’s non-conference contests, though kickoff times and broadcast networks are TBA. After the Stony Brook game, SDSU will play at Washington State (Sept. 6), at home against Cal (Sept. 20) and at Northern Illinois (Sept. 27).

The Aztecs this season lost a road game against Cal (21-0) and at home to Washington State (29-26), which returns to Snapdragon Stadium on Dec. 27 to play No. 21 Syracuse in the 2024 DirecTV Holiday Bowl.

For the third straight season, the Mountain West will compete as one 12-team league rather than two six-team divisions. The two teams with the best winning percentages will play in the championship game, with the higher-ranked team hosting.

It is the last year for the MW as presently constituted.

Pac-12 holdovers Oregon State and Washington State have invited SDSU, Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and Utah State from the Mountain West and Gonzaga from the West Coast Conference. The schools will officially join the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026.

Gonzaga does not field a football program, so the Pac-12 needs to add one more football-playing school. The NCAA requires a minimum of eight schools to be recognized as a Division I football conference.

Future schedules

SDSU has 21 non-conference games lined up over the next decade (though a game against Oregon State will likely become a Pac-12 game):

2026: vs. Portland State (Sept. 5), at UCLA (Sept. 12), vs. Oregon State (Sept. 19), at Toledo (Sept. 26).

2027: at Eastern Michigan (Sept. 3), vs. Missouri (Sept. 11), at Oklahoma (Sept. 18).

2028: at Missouri (Sept. 2), vs. Arizona State (Sept. 9), vs. Louisiana Tech (Sept. 23).

2029: vs. Oklahoma (Sept. 1), at Arizona State (Sept. 15), at Louisiana Tech (Sept. 22).

2030: vs. Central Michigan (Sept. 21).

2031: at Oklahoma (Sept. 6), vs. UCLA (Sept. 13), vs. Northern Illinois (Sept. 20).

2033: vs. Missouri (Sept. 10), at Louisiana Tech (Sept. 24).

2034: at Missouri (Sept. 9), vs. Louisiana Tech (Sept. 23).

Originally Published: December 10, 2024 at 1:12 PM PST