The 1986 San Diego State Aztecs football team represented San Diego State University during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).

The team was led by head coach Denny Stolz, in his first year. They played home games at Jack Murphy Stadium^{[note 1]} in San Diego, California. They completed the regular season as Champions of the WAC, with a record of eight wins, four losses (8–4, 7–1 WAC). The year finished with their first post-season bowl game in 17 years, the Holiday Bowl against the 19th-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes.

More information Date, Opponent ...

Date	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 6	Long Beach State*	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA		W 27–24	23,594	[1]
September 13	at Utah	Robert Rice Stadium Salt Lake City, UT		W 37–30	35,982	[2]
September 20	No. 19 UCLA*	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA		L 14–45	50,338	[3]
September 27	at New Mexico	University Stadium Albuquerque, NM		W 38–34	20,579	[4]
October 4	at No. 20 Stanford*	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		L 10–17	36,500	[5]
October 18	at UTEP	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX		W 15–10	40,109	[6]
October 25	Air Force	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA		L 10–22	27,336	[7]
November 1	at Colorado State	Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO		W 27–26	14,127	[8]
November 15	Wyoming	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA		W 31–24	20,168	[9]
November 22	Hawaii	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA		W 35–5	23,838	[10]
November 29	BYU	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA		W 10–3	45,062	[11]
December 30	No. 16 Iowa*	Jack Murphy Stadium San Diego, CA (Holiday Bowl)	ESPN	L 38–39	59,473	[12]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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The following were selected in the 1987 NFL Draft.^[15]

The following finished their college career in 1986, were not drafted, but played in the NFL.^[16]

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