(10-18-2019 03:27 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  

(10-17-2019 02:09 PM)ManleyPointer Wrote:  Surprised that at how many people put SDSU way above Fresno. I'd agree more with Wedge on this. They're comparable peers.

Academically, both are well-funded Cal-State schools.

They both hover around 100 in the Director's Cup standings.

SDSU has the better market. Though they have to share it with pro sports, USD & now UCSD. And San Diego feels like an extension of LA & part of PAC country. Fresno may as well be another state.

SDSU has the edge in basketball. Though they weren't great before Fisher. And Fresno is good for about 20 wins.

I'd take Bulldog football over the Aztecs. Deruyter wasn't head coach material. Put that aside & they're consistently solid. Enough to be considered Boise's primary rival. I like what Rocky Long's doing. A lot. It's just that Tedford has a better program.

I agree that Fresno is like another state. Or even another region.

But San Diego is definitely different from LA.

First, it's a LOT slower pace of living. It's still got the vibe of a beach town (albeit one that's a bit overgrown). It's even slower than comparably sized Midwestern cities. LA is more go-go-go like other huge cities.

Second, There's 100,000 active-duty military in San Diego, and 250,000 retired military. The average household is about 3-3.5 people, so that means about 1/3 of San Diego County households are military families.

As a result of the military, San Diego County has always been a lot whiter than LA. It's even whiter than Orange County, and has fewer Hispanic whites too. In fact, I think it's one of the whitest big cities in the USA (after Boston and Seattle). The Census Bureau says that San Diego County is 76% white, 12% Asian, and 5% black.

And San Diego is definitely not PAC country - not even close. I lived there for 3 years and ran into more Michigan fans than UCLA or USC fans.

Where are you getting those numbers? As a native Californian I was shocked to see those numbers since San Diego is on the Mexican border but according to Wikipedia, Hispanics represent 29% of the city of San Diego’s population while they represent 32% of San Diego County. So San Diego is not that white unless you’re counting Hispanics as white which it might happen in the future (Italian-Americans were not considered “white” until recently) but that’s another topic for another day.

As for Cal State-San Diego, I don’t understand the fascination people have with them. They’re an underachiever, they always have been. It’s football program started seeing some success once TCU, Utah and BYU were on the way out. They were supposed to be what Boise State and UCF became but somehow they always fail to deliver on those expectations. They only made it to the Sweet Sixteen twice in Fisher’s 18 seasons and that’s going to be pretty much their ceiling now that he’s gone. Yes, San Diego is one of the nicest locations in the U.S. but SDSU hasn’t capitalized on that yet and the same goes to UNLV but at least they have a NC in basketball. Maybe the new stadium will help but I won’t hold my breath on that one.