San Diego State drifts further from NCAA Tournament after late-season struggles
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With one regular-season game remaining, the San Diego State Aztecs continue their fall in NCAA Tournament projections.
After losing two straight and four of five, the Aztecs have dropped from the First Four Out into the Next Four Out in Joe Lunardi’s ESPN Bracketology. They’re the equivalent of No. 74, and remember, 68 teams make the field overall.
Lunardi wrote in his Friday update that the Aztecs must win their home finale against UNLV on Friday night to keep their NCAA hopes alive. Many people have already figured that their at-large chances are gone, meaning the only way they’ll get into March Madness for the sixth straight season is to win the Mountain West tournament next week in Las Vegas and claim the automatic berth.
The Aztecs have dropped to No. 46 in the NCAA NET Rankings, which are used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee as the primary sorting tool for selection and seeding for March Madness.
Amazingly, the Aztecs (19-10, 13-6 MW) go into the weekend still having a chance to tie for the conference championship. They need to beat UNLV (16-14, 11-8) on Friday night and then have New Mexico (13-6 MW) win at Utah State (14-5) on Saturday in order for all three teams to finish with the same record. If Utah State beats the Lobos, the Aggies will claim the title outright.
The Aztecs have had an underwhelming season after being picked as the unanimous choice to win the regular-season title in their final year in the Mountain West.
The Aztecs were already on the bubble when they went on the road and lost at New Mexico on Saturday and at Boise State on Tuesday night. Both were Quad 1 opportunities. SDSU had beaten both teams in San Diego.
“We were on the bubble a week ago, and then we lost that tough game,” coach Brian Dutcher said. “Boise State is playing well, and so we have to just try to play our best, get in the Mountain West tournament, and try to catch fire and win that thing. The key is always just getting better.”
SDSU is in a position to share the title only because Utah State was routed at UNLV and New Mexico lost at home to Colorado State.
Lunardi still has Utah State as the MW’s auto-bid team, although he dropped the Aggies one seed line to No. 8 in the East Region, giving them a first-round matchup with No. 9 UCLA at Greenville.
New Mexico dropped to the last spot in the Last Four In, at No. 68, and is projected to play Santa Clara in a First Four game, with the winner getting the No. 11 seed in the South and a first-round date with No. 6 Louisville in St. Louis.
Friday night’s game against the Runnin’ Rebels starts at 7 p.m. PT and will air on CBS Sports Network.
-bd678ba4dbad4f453246f539ee56a3b4.jpg "Bernie Wilson")
Bernie Wilson recently retired from The Associated Press after nearly 41 years, including stops in Spokane, Los Angeles and, for the final 33 years, San Diego. He grew up in Coeur d'Alene and graduated from the University of Idaho.