ESPN’s preseason bracketology will surprise San Diego State fans

Joe Lunardi projects Aztecs as No. 11 seed plus a rematch with Tar Heels

San Diego State Aztecs forward Magoon Gwath. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has an eye-opening prediction in his first offseason bracketology. 

Lunardi is projecting a rematch between San Diego State and North Carolina in Oklahoma City in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. What will really catch the eye of Aztecs fans is that Lunardi has the Aztecs as the No. 11 seed in the East Region and the Tar Heels as the No. 6 seed. Lunardi lists the Aztecs as an automatic qualifier, meaning he thinks they’ll win the Mountain West Tournament.

Aztecs fans might feel flat-out insulted by that seed line prediction, considering that CBS Sports had the Aztecs on the No. 6 seed line in its first Bracketology, along with future Pac-12 foe Gonzaga, Michigan State and Creighton. 

Plus, the Aztecs feel that coach Brian Dutcher will have another loaded roster ready for a deeper tournament run than they had last year. 

North Carolina barely made it into the last March Madness and drew a First Four matchup with the Aztecs. The Tar Heels routed the Aztecs 95-68. The Tar Heels then lost to Ole Miss in the first round. 

Lunardi projects that the SDSU-North Carolina winner would face the Iowa State-South Dakota State winner. 

CBS has the Aztecs facing the winner of the First Four matchup between Cincinnati and Texas A&M on March 20 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis in the East Region. Presuming the Aztecs win, they would then face the winner of No. 3 Louisville vs. No. 14 Furman.

San Diego State is hosting a subregional this season at Viejas Arena. Lunardi projects those matchups to be Gonzaga (No. 5 seed) against UC Santa Barbara (12) and UCLA (4) against Utah Valley (13) in the West Region, and Ohio State (6) vs. Memphis (11) and Arizona (3) against Arkansas State (14) in the South. 

Back for another year after withdrawing from the NBA Draft are SDSU guard Miles Byrd and 7-footer Magoon Gwath, the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Additionally, guard Reese Waters returns after missing last season with a foot injury.

San Diego State Aztecs guard Miles Byrd. | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

Plus, the Aztecs signed Sean Newman Jr., Latrell Davis and Jeremiah Oden from the transfer portal, as well as incoming four-star freshmen Tae Simmons and Elzie Harrington.

SDSU has announced three regular-season matchups so far. The Aztecs will play Michigan on Nov. 24 and Oregon the next night in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. Both those games will be at the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort. Their third game will be decided by other results during pool play. 

The Aztecs will play Arizona in Phoenix on Dec. 20.