Updated NCAA tournament projections: San Diego State among last teams with first round bye
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On Tuesday morning, ESPN college basketball bracketologist Joe Lunardi updated his current bracket projections.
Despite losing on Saturday at Utah State, Lunardi has San Diego State as one of the last four teams in with a bye. He currently has San Diego State slated to play Mississippi State in a 7 vs. 10 matchup in Wichita. 2-seed Houston, who San Diego State beat on a neutral site earlier this season, is in the same quadrant, taking on 15-seed Montana.
Boise State, who was swept in the regular season by San Diego State, currently sits atop Lunardi’s next four teams out. The Broncos kept their at-large hopes alive with a win over Nevada last weekend. The Broncos will host Utah State on Wednesday night looking for win No. 20 on the season.
Lunardi currently has New Mexico as an 8-seed in the East region, taking on 9-seed UConn in Raleigh. He has Utah State as a 9-seed in the West region, taking on 8-seed BYU in a battle of Utah teams. That game would be played in Lexington, Kentucky.
San Diego State moved up one spot to No. 50 in ESPN’s Basketball Power Index after Saturday’s loss to Utah State. The Aztecs are sandwiched between New Mexico (No. 47) and Boise State (No. 52) in those rankings. Utah State’s stretch of eight wins in 10 games has vaulted the Aggies up to No. 39.
Colorado State, which sits in third place in the Mountain West standings, remains further down the rankings. The Rams have moved up four spots to No. 68 but still will take on Boise State and Utah State over the final two weeks.
San Diego State will take the floor tonight against New Mexico with a chance to boost their postseason resume. The Aztecs and Lobos faced off six weeks ago in Albuquerque, a game won by New Mexico, 62-48.
The Aztecs are expected to be without standout redshirt freshman Magoon Gwath on Tuesday night. The three-time winner of the Mountain West’s Freshman of the Week award, Gwath injured his knee during the early minutes of Saturday’s game against Utah State. Initial reports indicate that Gwath’s knee injury is a hyperextension, though no timetable has been given for his return.
San Diego State will hit the road again this weekend, playing at Wyoming and UNLV before returning home for their regular-season finale against Nevada.
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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.