Around the Mountain: Aztecs playing the big boys … finally

CHEYENNE -- Hey, Aztecs … welcome to the party.

For the first time in school history, San Diego State will play a team from the Southeastern Conference. Friday the school announced a pair of home-and-home series against the Missouri Tigers, the team that will be traveling to Laramie Aug. 31 for opening day.

The Aztecs will host the first meeting Sept. 11, 2027, and make the return trip to Columbia Sept. 2, 2028. The teams will play again in 2031 and 2032.

SDSU has never played a team from the mighty SEC, but has faced Mizzou three times before, losing all three.

Missouri Athletics Director, Jim Sterk, served in the same capacity at SDSU for six seasons before coming to Columbia in 2016.

BOISE STATE

Breaking news: Boise State has a new alternate football uniform for the 2019 season.

I take it you’re not surprised.

For the first time since November of 2016, the Broncos will have a “blackout” at Albertson’s Stadium. The fans wear all black – so does the team. Boise State will wear its new black get-up Sept. 20 against Air Force.

When Wyoming comes to town Nov. 9, the stadium will be “blued out” – in every section. So, you can only imagine what color the team will wear.

NEW MEXICO

You know those awesome videos when a football team hands out a scholarship to a more-than-deserving candidate?

Walk-ons Bobby Cole, Andrew Erickson, Micah Gray, Hayden Wilson and Nic Wilson all earned a full-ride in a team meeting. The players responded with screams, surrounding the five players and showering them with praises.

Good stuff.

To make the moment even cooler, three of the walk-ons are New Mexico natives.

UNLV

Bad news for the Mountain West Conference – The Las Vegas Bowl is now home to the Pac-12 – and either an opponent from the Big Ten or the SEC.

So much for having a bowl game in UNLV’s city.

On Tuesday, the bowl game announced in 2020 it will be moving from Sam Boyd Stadium to Las Vegas Stadium, the future home of the NFL’s Raiders.

The bowl, which was always played before Christmas, will now be moved to “prime time,” meaning after Dec. 25. The bowl signed a six-year contract between the three conferences that will last through the 2025 season.

The bowl wanted more “high profile teams” to go in a bigger venue. The Mountain West has beaten the Pac-12 in seven of the last nine games. You might recall, Wyoming beat UCLA in Las Vegas, 24-21, back in 2004.

Maybe the “big boys” are tired of being embarrassed?

“We are truly a national bowl game now, as opposed to a regional bowl game,” Las Vegas Bowl Executive Director John Saccenti said. “We had Mountain West and Pac-12 so once we got to right around Colorado, we were done. But now we’re touching the Southeastern Conference and all the teams within the Southeastern Conference. We’re touching the Big Ten and all the teams in the Midwest and in the Big Ten Conference. So, it’s truly a national game.”

AIR FORCE

Ever wonder if all those new Air Force recruits show up with those clean, trim hair dos? Well, the Colorado Spring Gazette answered that Thursday.

Jordan Britton, a defensive tackle from Houston, cut his eight-year-old dreads before attending the Academy’s prep school this summer. He donated his beloved hair to an acquaintance with the chronic autoimmune disease, lupus, according to the paper.

Britton will depart for the Air Force Academy prep school this summer.