3 thoughts: No. 19 San Diego State 73, Fresno State 41

Three thoughts on No. 19 San Diego State’s 73-41 win at Fresno State on Saturday night:

1. A world without rules

The only entity that took a worse beating than Fresno State last week was the NCAA. The Bulldogs lost big on the court, and the NCAA lost big in court.

The latest legal setback for college sports’ governing body came in Greeneville, Tenn., where a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction barring the NCAA from enforcing some of its key NIL rules — specifically those preventing players from negotiating monetary compensation before formally committing to a school.

The legal complaint was filed by attorneys general in Tennessee and Virginia amid revelations that the NCAA was investigating the University of Tennessee for potential violations of its NIL policies. Instead of fighting the allegations through the NCAA’s adjudication process, they simply went to federal court, where the NCAA regularly loses.

So now there are no rules?

“I’m not sure there were rules anyway, to be honest with you, at least rules that people in college basketball don’t try to exploit,” SDSU coach Brian Dutcher said. “There were rules that people were trying to go around anyway. There are rules that everyone thinks people follow, and there’s the reality of what it is. And this is probably closer to the reality of what we’ve been dealing with.

“It’s college basketball, it’s college athletics, it’s a new world.”

In that new world, representatives of other programs can basically approach his players right now and offer them money to transfer without fear of repercussion.

Another federal court injunction, from December, barred the NCAA from enforcing policies related to two-time transfers having to sit out one season, creating de facto free agency by opening the transfer portal to everybody. That the portal doesn’t officially open until March 18, the day after Selection Sunday, is no deterrent.

Dutcher shrugged.

“It’s happening anyway behind the scenes,” he said. “There’s nobody in the portal, but everyone knows who’s going in the portal. There are no secrets. People are out there shopping kids to see if there’s more interest in other programs. That’s the reality of basketball right now.

“I don’t invent the rules. I don’t have a say in any of the rules that are put in place. But if I’m going to keep San Diego State relevant, I have to find a way to be good at NIL for our future.”

2. A classy end

Justin Hutson knows what’s coming. Everyone does.

The former Aztecs assistant coach and husband of SDSU women’s head coach Stacie Terry is in the sixth and final year of his contract at Fresno State. It won’t be renewed.

He twice had 23-win seasons, but the other four have been 11-19, 12-12, 11-20 and now 11-16.

It’s been a bit of a self-fulfilling prophesy for Fresno State, which many consider the most under-resourced basketball program in the Mountain West and which has done little to help…