SDSU FOOTBALL: J.D. WICKER ON SAN DIEGO SPORTS 760

[Music] all San Diego State Saturday night back on the football field under sha Lewis the Aztec fast era getting underway we have a pair of tickets that we're going to give away after our conversation right now with San Diego State's Athletics director JD wicker we have two tickets by the way tickets are available right now for the opener single game mini plan season tickets available right now at go aex.com San Diego State Texas A&M Commerce remember the jie I have to let I have to let you know this I'm sure you know because you listen I didn't do the Texas A&M pregnant pause Commerce until you did it with us about a month or so ago he so worried about that part of the Sports Talk Show I'm not going to do it during the broadcast but it's been a fun part of the show but first of all thanks for hopping on how are you I know it's a busy week uh doing well you know we're just uh getting prepped for some soccer tonight men's soccer plays Mercy Hurst tonight and then we've got uh football on Saturday women's soccer play Saturday night up on the sports Tech against Oklahoma State and volleyball is headed to the garden spot of Idaho Pocatello for some of their first volleyball competition this weekend so we're excited I think cross country kicks off this weekend too all right so very busy school year athletic year underway what can you tell Aztec fans about some of the new tailgating and pregame activ activities you're debuting here on Saturday I know you've got the New River Park block party um this year as well what can you tell us about that yeah really excited to have that area of the you know the Mission Valley development open uh the opportunity to tailgate on grass um I realized that forever in San Diego it's been tailgate on pavement but that gets that can get kind of warm um it's a whole lot easier to you know to play football and things but throw the football around when you're not ing cars so uh yeah the river PL the River Park block party um you got have the opportunity to set up tents for tailgating uh there's an Al there's a company Rebel XP that you can uh reserve a tailgate where they do everything for you um set up the tent bring the TV the chairs uh work with catering to get food uh we'll have our Aztec Village kind of set up in there as well um if you want to bring your own tent you have opportunity to you know reserve a space closer to the yellow lot closer to the stadium or you can there's some spaces where you can go and set your tent up and it's you know you're on your own so really excited about that new element of you know uh Snapdragon and it's more like a true college football experience you're tailgating on grass that's you go across the country that's what you see on college campuses and for the game day experience with you know Sean Lewis New Era of Aztec football here Aztec fast is there anything new that fans could expect to see during the game to enhance the game day experience for the fans yeah I guess the one thing I forgot the warrior walk will be will go through um the River Park and then right down the middle of the yellow lot into the stadium you I think the biggest thing for uh the game day experience is going to be we're going to throw you know the offense is going to look a whole lot different it's going to be exciting we're going to throw the ball down the field so we're you know we're excited about that it's going to be something that should keep people engaged and you know give them a reason to you know really celebrate the aspects JD wicker San Diego State's athletic director he's with us right now on John and Jim we've talked about this with you before JD but the home schedule's really um one of the better home schedules maybe in recent history for San Diego State football uh Air Force is coming here as an academy Oregon State and Washington State are both coming to San Diego this year what do you wanted San diegans and sports fans and Aztec supporters to know about what's going on at Snapdragon with Aztec football this season with the schedule yeah yeah I mean I think the big thing to know is we've listened to the fans you know this we're going into our third season uh you know what our fans have told us about pricing concessions uh benefits of being season ticket holders those types of things um we've heard that and we've addressed that you know the product on the field is going to be phenomenal this year and then again it is a good home schedule it's you know we've got Texas A&M Commerce this weekend which should be a good opportunity for the team to have you know their first opportunity to hit somebody else um it's a whole new staff it's a lot of new players so hopefully we have a nice weekend this weekend and then we go into Oregon State you know next week uh that should be at a great non-conference game uh for our fan base and then like you said Washington State and Air Force uh we've got Hawaii and New Mexico as well so it's you know it's college football it's going to be fun exciting college football and what is the best college stadium in the country as you look at you know the amenities that come with Snapdragon Stadium uh the weather's going to be great this weekend so there's really no reason not to come try you know Aztec football if you're an Aztec Al we really encourage you to come out and buy tickets and come support the student athletes in your institution and there's a giveaway Saturday correct what's the details on that uh I believe the first 10,000 people are getting a Hawaiian shirt at the beach bash all right first 10,000 fans getting a Hawaiian shirt and again tickets are available right now go aex.com Saturday 5:00 P PM like JD said it'll be a spectacular day for football on the Mesa it looks like JD um and Switching gears to some other sports as well looks like that nil event in Las Vegas has been made official or is getting closer to being made official for men's basketball that that players era Festival uh is that kind of the future of where some of this is heading I mean what does that mean for San Diego State Men's Basketball specifically to have that money for the collective coming in and is that where we're heading with some of the future of of College athletics yeah it's it's going to be it will continue to be interesting to see how nil and potential Revenue sharing and all of those different a Avenues play out um today this is this is the model so we're excited to be a part of uh the tournament the mte we get three it if nothing else you know comes of it we get three very important RPI games it's going to be a chance for us to you know set ourselves apart you know I was looking the other day Joe lonardi doesn't even have us in the field John Rothstein has picked us fourth in the league I mean it's it's not like we've been to two straight sweet 16s we played in the national title game a couple years ago like they don't pay attention to San Diego State so um that's going to give us an opportunity to really you know make a name for San Diego State again this year I don't know why we have to keep doing it but and we'll see you know next week on Thursday judge wilin up in the Bay Area is going to have a preliminary hearing about the house settlement uh we don't expect her to rule from the bench on a preliminary approval but we expect to get some indication of which way what she's thinking and you know is that house settlement continues to move through the process it will you know start to Define what the next step is of you know what we're going to do and how nil is going to shape and how rev sharing is going to go and various other aspects of College athletics how much does the the million dollars here for the niil tournament mean to nil the nil fund for San Diego State like is this something that you want to try to be in as many times as you possibly can because a million dollars I mean it's a million dollars yeah I mean that's huge for our nil Collective it it's going to give them the freedom and flexibility to do a lot of things so yeah I mean we're always looking to um you know generate revenue for Mesa and then Aztec link right now has their uh challenge going on I encourage people that runs through Saturday night you know take a look at that and you know be a part of uh you know it allows you to truly be a part of the student athlete experience because you're contributing uh to their nil so really encourage you to take a look at what Aztec link is doing Mesa the same and those are two basically volunteer organizations those are people that you know because the athletics department can't necessarily be directly involved so really appreciate what they're doing so opportunities like this to bring Revenue in for them uh is huge JD wicker with us right now San Diego State's athletic director again the azex taking on Texas A&M Commerce coming up Saturday at 5:00 P p.m. at Snapdragon Stadium tickets at go aex.com um JD with the expanded college football playoff which is set but it's only really set for a period of two years what do you believe the future is going to look like and and you do believe that access will remain moving forward right for the group of five which had fought for access it is now here in 2024 it's going to remain right uh that I would assume it would remain obviously we're going to do all that we you know need to do have to do from a group of five standpoint to ensure that access remains you know the you know when we have two years left on the current contract and then I guess what it would be the 26 Season a new version so it could be a 14 game playoff at that point um with you know group of five continuing to hopefully you know keep one spot I think you know obviously if uh we were pushed out of that in some way I don't you know I'd look to litigate to get back into it but um hopefully we won it won't come to that and they'll recognize that you know the San Diego States the Mountain West the mack the Sun Belt all of these conferences that were important part of FBS and we bring a lot to the table and to have an opportunity uh to be a part of the playoff and I guarantee you group of five is gonna win some games uh in the playoff it may just be a first round but that's going to happen that uh we deserve that seat at the table and so I my hope is and people I talked to that it's not going to be a question of us having access or not I said final question I have one more um I always have questions I could keep you really for 30 minutes or longer uh do you expect resolution on the Pack 12 scheduling Alliance Beyond 2024 as Aztec fans know we just talked about it you've got Washington State and Oregon State there's been this Alliance for 2024 it was a little bit up in the air for 2025 is the resolution or is that coming soon uh I think we'll have resolution you know sooner rather than later we've all got to move forward it may stretch into you know mid to late September we'll see how that goes you know there's still a lot at play out there you still got to figure out what's going to happen with the ACC and you know or Clemson and Florida State going to blow that up which changes the dynamic for a lot of different schools because if Clemson and Florida State can get out then you know North Carolina Virginia and you know those seven or eight schools that had talked about wanting to get out which then changes the calculus for Stanford and Cal and I think gone for 30 minutes on this John but um you know we definitely we are very happy to have you know Oregon State on our schedule this year it would have been just Washington State that's an actual non-conference game uh we get the Oregon State game and so you know we hopefully have that next year and that's a million dollars to our budget that's a huge number for us uh to get that additional million dollars that we wouldn't otherwise get so my hope is that we're playing that game next year it's on the schedule and um we've got all that figured out really good Insight JD we're excited uh truly are obviously the home of the Aztecs our pregame coverage begins at 3 from that brand new tailgating area the warrior walk 5:00 kick right here on San Diego Sports 760 we can't wait again tickets are available right now it's going to be a spectacular day first 10,000 fans get Hawaiian shirts San Diego State Hawaiian shirts tickets right now available at go aex.com for Saturday JD thank you we'll see you this weekend always appreciate it thanks JD all right guys I appreciate it very much and John I'll have to come find you I don't know where I'll find you now down in the uh for the pregame but I I look forward to seeing you down there I'm looking forward to it yes they come to the booth call the game yes well I we don't want to go we don't want to go too far we want people to continue listening to that's why we that's why we've hired you and I'm just you know I'll just hang out and watch I appreciate it J we're looking forward to it we'll see you this weekend thanks for taking the time we know it's busy all right appreciate it go ahead