There is no official announcement or formal ceremony for any of this, but it’s true that at some point in time, a college sports program transcends its status and its larger place in the ecosystem. At some point in time, Gonzaga ceased to be a mid-major program despite competing in the West Coast Conference, a mid-major league. Gonzaga’s results, quality and visibility gave the school a profile and resource base which exceeded the rest of the competition. The WCC might not be a dominant conference, but Gonzaga stood apart. That same reality applies to San Diego State after the Aztecs reached their first Final Four on Sunday.

SDSU, located in sunny and agreeable San Diego, was already an attractive place to attend college, but now this Final Four is likely to boost admissions and improve the various aspects of a university which go beyond sports themselves. Gonzaga experienced this boost once the basketball program attained a certain degree of sustained success.

San Diego State invested a lot of money into improving facilities, including the building of an on-campus football stadium to replace its previous and longstanding arrangement as a tenant for the old (now demolished) Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium which used to be the home for the NFL Chargers and MLB Padres.

San Diego State, one would think, will be able to enter the NIL space as a legitimate competitor. One of the other teams in the 2023 Final Four, Miami, used NIL to form a part of its breakthrough roster this season.

The Mountain West didn’t win a single game in last year’s NCAA Tournament, and the other three teams in this year’s tournament didn’t win a game. San Diego State transcended all that.

SDSU is not yet a Pac-12 member, but it already seems clear the Aztecs have transcended mid-major status even while they remain in the Mountain West.