San Diego State Basketball - Viejas Arena

[@cblification]

Thank you for coming to Viejas, it’s a great venue. Only correction, SDSU is a basketball powerhouse and one of the winningest programs in the nation over the last 20 years.

[@StadiumsoftheWorld10]

Thank you for having me. They are one of the winningest.

[@stevea8351]

Agree with cblification. The Aztecs have been national powerhouse and have beaten many of what you would call the Blue Bloods over the last 15 years, including winning at Kansas, multiple wins at Gonzaga, knocking off the #1 of #1 seeds in last year's March Madness, etc. They have regularly beaten up on the PAC 12 over the last 10-15 years. The Aztecs are regulars in the top 25 and have been ranked as high as #1 in the NET rankings and #4 in the API, and #2 in the coaches poll nationally. This is why a larger percentage of their games are sold out. The only reason they are not considered a Blue Blood is because they are a Power 5 basketball program stuck in the MWC (which is really strong nationally in hoops, BTW) and they only made their first Final 4 last year. Before last year, they had been to the Sweet 16 multiple times, but never made it into the Elite 8. Last year's run to the National Title game cemented them into an already highly respected national program.

[@Red427Cobra]

Hi SOW, the reason that the football stadium is still there is that it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. This was part of a years long legal battle where a student sued to halt construction due to the importance of Aztec Bowl, or their opinion about its importance. The argument was that Pres John F Kennedy spoke there and was given an honorary degree there, and there is the historic import of its age (1933) and WPA grant funding, so she successfully lobbied to get it onto the NRHP. A compromise was finally reached to preserve as much of the bowl as possible when building the Arena. There is a bronze plaque on the bowl discussing its history. Also note that it was the only place to build the arena as the campus is in an urban area and fully built out. Since then, SDSU has expanded the campus by annexing the former site of Jack Murphy/Qualcomm stadium in Mission Valley which is what allowed them to build the new football stadium, which contrary to the video is technically on-campus. The campus on the mesa and the extension in the valley are connected by a trolley which manifests as a subway at the east end on the mesa (main campus). This has nothing to do with anything, but I always found it interesting that not only did JFK speak at SDSU, so did Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez. Thanks for visiting!

[@RandCarlton]

this was a cool review

[@Burciaga96]

You should do the pit in new mexico!

[@michaelnowatnick8839]

It's on my list. I think the Pit and Utah St have some great home court advantages like at Viejas. I think most Mtn West schools have great home courts, but I'd have to guess SDSU, UNM, and Utah St are the top 3 in no particular order.

[@carltonhill6079]

@@michaelnowatnick8839 I think you got the order right. 🙂

[@StadiumsoftheWorld10]

Yeah, it is pretty wild how the mountain west has some of the best home court advantages in all of college basketball. It makes it fun to follow.

[@michaelnowatnick8839]

I would just add that the bleacher seats at the top are a little tight. Unless you go to an early season game against a nobody school where there's less people showing up and you can stretch out, you're packed in tight. For a sellout game against a conference opponent, I won't sit there again as you might have someone's knees in your back. I've had season seats in section B since the Kawhi years and like being opposite the student section, where you can view straight towards their antics. And like you mentioned, it can be steep inside, so the lower seats mean a tougher walk back up the stairs at halftime and when the game ends. Overall, I have a lot of good memories in the place. It definitely can get loud when the place is full for conference games or against good non-conference opponents.

[@khanhdominium1]

Where in section B? I need to get you a section B sticker. Row 12 in kawahi jersey come down any game!

[@StadiumsoftheWorld10]

We sat in the bleachers against a top 25 and it was very tight. The person in front of me was walking around and not in their seat a lot which helped.

[@joelnes25]

My Favorite player Naomi Panganiban plays there!!

[@avisser5345]

It would be nice if those so called blue bloods had to courage to come play the Aztecs at Viejas.

[@Alieh86]

You just gotta go pee before the game.