Aztecs notebook: Mountain West the latest conference to add injury report policy

The Mountain West has joined a growing number of conferences with football injury reporting policies designed, at least in part, to address the increasing harassment of athletes from sports gamblers.

The conference detailed on Friday a measure intended to “to protect student-athlete privacy, reduce outside pressure on student-athletes for inside information, ensure transparency, and promote competitive integrity.”

Conference teams will be required to designate injured players into one of two categories — questionable or out — two days before games. The reports will be updated three hours before kickoff on game days.  They will include a player’s name and status, but no specifics about his injury.

For now, the policy only applies to conference games. SDSU coach Sean Lewis has not yet decided whether to release injury reports before nonconference games. The Aztecs open their season Aug. 28 against Stony Brook at Snapdragon Stadium.

The conference got to the heart of the matter midway through the six-paragraph release, writing: “This policy also addresses public confidence in fair play and the integrity risks associated with sports wagering.”

On one hand, the NCAA and its member conferences do not want athletes harassed by sports gamblers. The logic is that if teams and conferences publicly provide availability updates, then outsiders will be less likely to pump players for inside information.

On the other hand, there is the not-so-subtle embrace of gambling. Several conferences — including the Mountain West — hold their football media days in Las Vegas.

Circa Resort & Casino has hosted the Mountain West in recent years. It is a 21-and-over facility. That led to some embarrassment last year, when 20-year-old Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty, the conference’s returning Offensive Player of the Year, was not allowed in the building.

“When we have our media day at the world’s largest sports book in Vegas, (gambling is) kind of front and center,” Lewis said. “We’re obviously aware of it. To me, at the end of the day, I viewed (the policy) as this is what’s best for our guys. When you look at it through that lens, it’s a no-brainer. It’s the right thing to do.

“The amount of money that is in the system right now, with NIL, rev share, sports gambling, that money leads to greed. You’re always acutely aware of it and you want to protect your guys. We always educate. I think this is another way to insulate and, for lack of a better term, put a bubble around them because the information is going to be out there.”

Lewis and his fellow MW coaches helped come up with the policy. Similar plans have been announced by the Mid-American and Big 12 conference. The Big Ten has been issuing injury reports before football and basketball games since 2023. Last year, the SEC and ACC began issuing injury reports for football, basketball and baseball.

“It’s the direction that most major conferences are going,” Lewis said. “Obviously, we view ourselves as that. I thought we did a nice job finding something that fit what we felt was appropriate.

“I think it’s good. I think it helps protect the kids. Obviously, with the way sports gambling has been legalized, to help reduce some temptation for our guys to give away any kind of information to nefarious characters who might be reaching out.

“It takes away some of the gamesmanship as well, which is good. A little bit of clarity for everyone is never a bad thing.”

Notable

SDSU junior edge Trey White is one of three Aztecs to make preseason watch lists. White was listed for the Chuck Bednarik Award (defensive player of the year) and Bronco Nagurski Award (best defensive player); sophomore wide receiver/returner Jordan Napier for the Paul Hornung Award (most versatile player); and junior linebacker Tano Letuli for the Polynesian Award (Polynesian player of the year).

• Senior Joe Borjon is progressing well from an ankle injury suffered two weeks ago. Borjon took some reps Monday at left tackle during the portion of practice open to the media.

• An SDSU spokesman said Monday that 1,155 tickets were scanned at Snapdragon Stadium for Thursday night’s FanFest scrimmage, where junior transfer quarterback Jayden Denegal made his debut. The Union-Tribune had estimated that 500 people attended the event.