The event we've heard about for weeks became official Tuesday. Quality competition from Southern California is headed to Viejas Arena to tip-off the new college basketball season.
San Diego State will host No. 22 UCLA November 25.
"To go right into the fire against UCLA will be a test for both teams," SDSU head coach Brian Dutcher said.
Those programs will be joined by UC Irvine and Pepperdine, who will play the other half of that day's doubleheader. Two days later the Aztecs will face the Anteaters, and the Bruins will take on the Waves.
UC Irvine has won 20 or more games in seven of their last eight seasons. Pepperdine is expected to have a strong season, and was picked to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference.
"For a field that got put together a couple, two three weeks ago, I think it's as good as any (multi-team event) there is," Dutcher said.
San Diego State and UCLA were scheduled to play events in Orlando, until ESPN decided to back out on hosting more than two dozen teams for games that were supposed to be played between late November and early December. Dutcher reached out to his friend and Bruins head coach Mick Cronin. When he pitched the idea of welcoming the Bruins and two other quality teams to Viejas - and taking care of the logistics that accompany such an event - the UCLA head coach was on board.
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"He was excited by the idea," Dutcher said. "He wanted to play good teams, he knew that we'd been historically good. It's a credit to him, he's not afraid to go to a neutral floor in order to play good games."
This will mark UCLA's first road game at San Diego State since the 1991-1992 season. The Bruins and Aztecs haven't met since 2012, when San Diego State came away with a 78-69 win in Anaheim.
The school announced that fans will not be allowed at the games.
