The good news about San Jose State’s 58-26 loss to No. 6 USC on Saturday in Los Angeles is that it's over. The bad news is that it doesn’t get any easier from here.
The Spartans have a string of tough opponents in their next five games as they will face No. 18 Oregon State, Cal Poly, the University of Toledo, Air Force and Boise State. By the time SJSU hits the midway point of the season, it could be 1-5 on the verge of missing a bowl game.
SJSU’s success this season is important on the field, but with the ever changing landscape of college athletics, it is vitally important that the Spartans have a successful season to show that they are a marketable college program.
The spotlight will be on the Spartans this Sunday for their home opener against No. 18 Oregon State in a nationally-televised game. It’s the first time the Spartans will be on a national CBS time slot since 1982 when they defeated Stanford 35-31.
If the Spartans get blown out on Sunday in the same fashion that they did at USC, it could be a huge blow to the team’s morale being that the eyeballs of the entire country are on them. That would also mean they would have been routed in back-to-back games going into their toughest stretch of the season.
Head coach Brent Brennan said the team doesn’t think about the pressure of performing on national television, but hopes the extra attention will put more fans in the stands.
“I think it's cool that it’s on national TV, and I really hope that everybody outside the state of California tunes in to watch the game, but I hope that everybody in the Bay Area actually comes to the game,” Brennan said in a Tuesday press conference. “That's what I want. I want people in the stands, I want people to see this cool facility and see the upgrades on South Campus in the last seven years and see all the really cool things that are happening in San Jose State.”
Brennan is right in that the game should garner more support in the Bay Area, but there is also a need for the Spartans to show that the investments into athletics will pay off.
With the constant movement of teams into different conferences, SJSU has a chance to prove that it could be a marketable team in the machine that is college football.
Since the Spartans don’t have a rich history of football success and are not the premier team in their own market, there is a real possibility that they could get left behind in the college football realignment process.
Washington State President Kirk Schulz said Tuesday that he is holding out hope that the PAC-12 can somehow rebuild its brand, which means pulling teams from lesser conferences such as the Mountain West and American Athletic Conference, according to a Tuesday Sports Illustrated article.
The worst possible scenario for the Spartans would be if the PAC-12 were to rebuild itself using teams from the MWC such as San Diego State, Cal State Fresno, Boise State and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
That leaves SJSU in a weaker conference that will not generate football revenue which is used to fund other sports in the athletic department.
Which brings us back to Sunday’s game against Oregon State and the nationally-televised opportunity the Spartans have to show that they are not the SJSU of old.
Sunday’s game is essentially a showcase game. SJSU needs to show Oregon State, and anyone else who is interested in joining a conference with the Spartans, that they are an intimidating opponent who has a passionate fan base that could be marketed to the rest of the country.
The Spartans are 17-point underdogs at home against the Beavers, but if they are able to make the game exciting and competitive, it should be considered a win for an SJSU team that has an uphill battle of a schedule ahead.
SJSU has laid out the groundwork for a successful athletics program with the recent success of the football, men’s basketball, women’s soccer and baseball teams last season.
But it's time for the Spartans to show that they can consistently compete as an athletic program who has historically been the laughing stock of college sports. The time to show that starts on Sunday against Oregon State.
“It's our first time being on CBS national in 41 years,” said SJSU athletic director Jeff Konya on Tuesday. “So it's obviously very important for our program for visibility and for our brand. We're all super excited to be featured in a TV window where there's no other football going on.”
