then Arizona & Arizona State, then Utah & Colorado. SDSU fits fine into that group, especially where those schools were at the time they were invited to join. US News & World report ranks SDSU #151, exactly tied with Oregon State and a bit behind ASU (#121). It's also further ahead of #212 Washington State than it is behind Arizona, Oregon, and utah (all tied at #105).
Also, with the situation they're in they don't have the luxury of worrying too much about academics.