San Diego State snubbed from NCAA Tournament; Aztecs not expected to accept NIT or Crown bids

The NCAA Tournament bubble officially popped for the San Diego State Aztecs on Sunday afternoon.

The Aztecs knew they were in a precarious position with a weak resume going into Selection Sunday, which was confirmed when they didn’t hear their name called as the Field of 68 was unveiled.

It’s a huge letdown for a team that came into the season with high expectations and was the unanimous preseason choice to win the Mountain West regular-season title in their final season in the league.

They had their fate in their own hands several times during the season. They could have clinched the MW’s automatic bid but collapsed in the final minutes of Saturday’s tournament championship game and lost 73-62 to regular-season champion Utah State.

The Aztecs ended up in most prognosticators’ First Four Out. Their biggest blemish was going 3-8 in Quad 1 games in the NCAA NET Rankings.

According to various reports, the Aztecs won’t accept an invitation to play in the NIT or The Crown. They wouldn’t be able to host an NIT game because Viejas Arena will be used for first- and second-round NCAA games on Friday and Sunday.

Oh, and to add insult to injury, Utah State got the No. 9 seed in the West Region and will face No. 8 Villanova in the first round Friday on Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena. The winner advances to play the winner of No. 1 Arizona-No. 16 LIU.

The Aztecs were banking on the MW being a multi-bid league, but Utah State was the only team that made it.

It was just three years ago that the Aztecs thrilled the city by making it to their first Final Four and then making the national championship game, where they lost to UConn.

They were relegated to the First Four last season, where they were routed by North Carolina.

Now the Aztecs go into an uncertain offseason, a 22-11 team that will certainly face NIL issues as it moves into the new-look Pac-12.

What went wrong

The Aztecs opened the season with a loaded roster that included guard Miles Byrd and 7-footer Magoon Gwath, both of whom withdrew from the NBA Draft for one more shot at March Madness. The Aztecs also returned guard Reese Dixon-Waters, who missed all of last season with a foot injury.

Gwath missed the first three games as he finished his rehab after having knee surgery in late April.

Everything else seemed good to go for a program used to playing in the NCAAS.

But the first sign of trouble came just three games in, when the Aztecs dropped a 108-107 double-overtime decision at home to Troy, a Quad 3 loss.

Then came blowout losses to the two marquee teams on their schedule, Michigan and Arizona.

The Aztecs rebounded by winning seven straight games and looked like a solid at-

large team, even though they lost Gwath and freshman Elzie Harrington to injuries for a stretch during conference season.

Then they lost at Grand Canyon and Utah State in a span of four games, and just like that they were on the bubble.

They won their next three games, but then came the swoon that doomed them. A 10-point home loss to Grand Canyon and a stunning loss at Colorado State started a run of four losses in the final six games.

They routed Utah State 89-72 at Viejas Arena on Feb. 25 but then lost at New Mexico and Boise State, both Quad 1 opportunities.

SDSU will miss the NCAAs for the first time since 2019.