San Jose, California Francisco Bay. Santa Clara Valley is the population center of the Bay Area and, like the hub and spokes of a wheel, surrounding communities emanate outwards from the valley. This growth, in part, has shaped the greater Bay Area as it is today in terms of geographic population distribution and the trend of suburbanization away from the valley. There are four distinct valleys in the city of San Jose: Almaden Valley, situated on the southwest fringe of the city; Evergreen Valley to the southeast, which is hilly all throughout its interior; Santa Clara Valley, which includes the flat, main urban
San Jose State Spartans State's most played opponent in the Mountain West Conference for college football and college basketball. Fresno State and San Jose State first started playing each other as members of the California Coast Conference in the 1920s. San Jose State also has a natural athletics rivalry with the Stanford Cardinal of Stanford University, due in large part to the two school's geographic proximity. The approximate physical distance between the two universities is 23 miles. Additionally, San Jose State and Stanford are each known for having a large alumni workforce presence in Silicon Valley. The two schools first played each other in