University of Massachusetts athletic director John McCutcheon has emerged as one of the leading candidates to fill the vacant athletic director opening at San Diego State, the San Diego Union Tribune reported Thursday.

McCutcheon, who has been at UMass since replacing Ian McCaw almost exactly six years ago, previously worked in the California state university system. He was the athletic director at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo from 1992-2004 and led that school's transition from Division II to Division I.

San Diego State spokesman Jack Beresford told the Union-Tribune that the school is screening candidates and they hope to have their vacancy filled by March.

McCutcheon did not return messages seeking comment on Thursday.

Michigan senior associate athletic director Joe Parker and UCLA senior associate director Ross Bjork were also named as candidates to replace Jeff Schemmel, who resigned in November.

McCutcheon, 58, a 1975 graduate of Indiana University in Pennsylvania, was hired by former chancellor John Lombardi and has a contract that runs through 2012.

McCutcheon's tenure in Amherst has been marked by coaching changes and upgrading facilities.

McCutcheon has hired two football coaches (Don Brown and Kevin Morris) and two men's basketball coaches (Travis Ford and Derek Kellogg) as well as a handful of coaches in other sports.

Upgrades were made to McGuirk Stadium, the Mullins Center, Garber Field and the UMass Softball Complex.

Donations and corporate sponsorships also have increased while McCutcheon has been athletic director.

He also has served as the head of the Football Championship Subdivision committee, which among other duties selects tournament teams.

UMASS-UNH IN FOXBOROUGH - The annual football game between UMass and New Hampshire will be moving to Gillette Stadium on Oct. 23, 2010, and a date to be determined in 2011.

Sources at UMass confirmed that each team will give up one home game to take their annual rivalry to Foxborough.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage, including a UMass sports blog, go to http://www.gazettenet.com/blog/umass-sports.