San Diego State's Brian Dutcher: 'Going to be more realigment'

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With San Diego State playing in the school's first-ever Elite Eight NCAA tournament game on Sunday against Creighton, coach Brian Dutcher said opportunity looms for the basketball program and the school's athletic department with both USC and UCLA headed to the Big Ten next season.

«Realignment is here,» Dutcher said. «So everybody is just waiting for the next shoe to drop. Whether that's the Big Ten or the Pac-12 or the Big 12 or ACC. There's going to be more realignment.»

With UCLA and USC leaving the Pac-12 and soon to be playing a vast majority of their conference games thousands of miles away, San Diego State plans to entrench itself in Southern California as a sensible regional option. The Aztecs played their opening weekend of the NCAA tournament more than 2,000 miles away in Orlando, Florida, and Dutcher said that trip gave him a window into the travel challenges that the new Big Ten schools will be facing in basketball.

«Even though [our flight] was a charter, I thought, my goodness, those guys have to do this every other week to play a basketball game? It would be exhausting,» he said. «It's going to be a real challenge to be at their best with that kind of travel. I'm wishing them all the best, but that's more travel than I would ever wish on anybody.»

With the Pac-12 expected to receive clarity on its next television deal in the upcoming weeks, the potential has loomed for months that the conference could add programs whenever that deal is completed. San Diego State remains at the forefront of that conversation, thanks to the school's location, a strong run of success in both football and men's basketball and solid academics.

San Diego State athletic director John David Wicker said that the