San Diego State men’s basketball fails to crack AP Top 25 after two early wins

Voters take a look at various factors from early season games

San Diego State Aztecs guard Reese Dixon-Waters (39). | Photo courtesy of San Diego State University Athletics

The San Diego State men’s basketball team failed to crack the first regular-season Associated Press Top 25 poll released on Monday.

The Aztecs actually received fewer points, from 74 in the preseason poll to 67 on Monday, but moved up one spot, from No. 28 to No. 27. 

The Aztecs (2-0) still have a ways to go. No. 25 Kansas has 130 points, and then it drops off to NC State having 87 points at No. 26. Then it’s 20 more points down to SDSU. 

The only other Mountain West team to receive votes in the preseason poll, Boise State with four points, disappeared from voting after an unfathomable 79-78 home loss to Division 2 Hawaii Pacific in its season opener. 

What it means

While there might be some surprise among fans that the Aztecs haven’t yet cracked the poll, there’s a bit of a crapshoot with the preseason poll and then voters take a look at various factors from early season games. 

San Diego State has opened with relatively easy wins at home, 77-45 against Long Beach State and then 73-57 against Idaho State. They’re off until hosting Troy on Nov. 18, the last of a three-game homestand.

As it’s done in the past, San Diego State will simply have to play its way into the Top 25, all while navigating a challenging pre-Mountain West Conference schedule. 

Big barometer ahead

The Aztecs have been without 7-foot rim protector Magoon Gwath, who just last week was cleared for contact in practice while working his way back from knee surgery in late April. He’s expected to make his season debut against Troy. 

The Aztecs then have a big Thanksgiving week in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. SDSU will face No. 6 Michigan on Nov. 24 and then Oregon the next night. The Aztecs’ third opponent will be determined by the results of the first two games. 

Oregon had been just ahead of SDSU in the preseason poll, but dropped two spots and 24 points behind the Aztecs in Monday’s poll.

After the Players Era Festival, the Aztecs will return to Viejas Arena for games against Utah Valley, Lamar and the Mountain West opener against Air Force. 

The Tecs will then have another big test when they head to Phoenix for a neutral-site showdown with Arizona, which jumped eight spots to No. 5.

After a home game against Whittier, the Aztecs will settle into their final season in the Mountain West before heading to the new-look Pac-12 next season, where they’ll be rivals with No. 21 Gonzaga.