ESPN BPI rankings update: San Diego State gains five spots
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Following their seventh win in eight tries, San Diego State has moved up in the latest ESPN Basketball Power Index rankings.
The Aztecs (18-6, 11-4) will return to the floor on Saturday night for a showdown against Utah State at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah.
San Diego State moved up to No. 50 in the updated rankings, up five spots from the previous update. The Aztecs are one spot behind New Mexico while Utah State holds the top spot in the BPI among Mountain West Conference teams at No. 39.
Boise State is sandwiched right behind the Aztecs at No. 51 while there’s a big drop to Colorado State and Nevada, who come in at No. 69 and 70, respectively.
Following Boise State’s victory over New Mexico on Wednesday night, the conference standings have shrunk as we enter the final few weeks of the Mountain West regular season.
New Mexico sits atop the standings at 14-2, having wrapped up a season sweep of Utah State on Sunday. The Aggies are a game behind the Lobos at 13-3 while San Diego State and Colorado State sit in a tie for third place at 11-4. Boise State kept their slim hopes alive with Wednesday’s win and are 10-5 heading into the home stretch.
While San Diego State hits the road for a massive game this weekend against second-place Utah State, New Mexico will be off. The Lobos will have five days off before making their way to San Diego for a Tuesday night matchup.
The Aztecs have been up by more than 20 points in the second half in each of their past two games, allowing head coach Brian Dutcher to reduce minutes for starters while playing a bigger rotation of players.
“Whether it was Heide and Pharaoh off the bench, inside dunking the ball and rebounding it, or Taj, Kimo, and Wayne making shots and making plays,” Dutcher said of Tuesday’s balanced victory.
“Our depth is helping us this time of the year. We seem to be fresh. Even though we're at the very end of the year, we seem to have fresh legs because we have a deep team, and hopefully, that will serve us well as we play the last five games of the conference schedule.”
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-770033d1c5c4820fdbde4ecf2452e810.jpg "Bodie De Silva")
Bodie DeSilva has been covering sports in San Diego for more than a decade. He previously covered San Diego State athletics for Scout/Fox Sports.