Dec. 14, 1999

SAN DIEGO -- Ted Tollner has heard the other side of the story. He knows there are San Diego State football fans who don't agree with this type of nonconference scheduling, who would rather return to a day when the Aztecs played nothing but winnable games before starting league play.

Who wonder if a 5-6 team that owns one outright conference championship in 21 years should be signing contracts with the Ohio States of the world.

"The program did it the other way 20 years ago, but this is a different time," said Tollner. "Recruits and their parents want to know you play good people. We opened against (Division I-AA) South Florida this season (a 41-12 SDSU win) and you saw what happened. Everyone was so ho-hum about it. There's some risk in going about it this way, but it's exciting. It's a challenge."

A serious one.

The Aztecs yesterday released their nonconference schedule through 2005 and it is filled with teams from more prestigious leagues, teams synonymous with Top 25 rankings and bowl games, teams that have won a lot more than SDSU recently.

Some highlights:

SDSU next year opens against Arizona State on Aug. 31, the earliest in the program's history.

The Aztecs travel to Ohio State in 2001, host the Buckeyes two years later and return to Columbus in 2005.

SDSU renews its series with UCLA with four straight games (two here, two there) from 2002-2005.

SDSU plays games against four Pac-10 teams (Arizona, ASU, Oregon State and UCLA) in the next six years.

The Aztecs in 2002 begin playing former WAC foe Fresno State, but that could become a Mountain West Conference game after next year, when the league could add a ninth team.

Big 12 teams Colorado and Kansas and Big Ten representative Illinois are future opponents.

SDSU will have 12 games in 2002 and 2003. It is the result of a new rule that states 12 games are permissible during years in which there are 14 Saturdays between the first allowable playing date (Thursday preceding Labor Day) and the last one in November.

Next year's conference schedule won't be released until early next month. "Most of these (nonconference) teams are higher up the power chain than us," said Tollner. "It's our goal to compete with them. I would hope that people who follow us would support us through the process. We want players who want to compete against teams of this caliber. To get those players, you have to play good people. It just doesn't work the other way."