Go Aztecs

San Diego State plays #13 Gonzaga in basketball tomorrow. It should be really interesting. Gonzaga is 9-3. San Diego is unranked and 10 -2. Why is San Diego unranked? That is a great question.

The NCAA runner up is once again getting no respect. They beat Washington, who beat Gonzaga but it doesn't seem to matter to the east coast voters, who could care less about the Aztecs, it doesn't fit in the current blue blood narrative, the Dukes and Kentucky's that they like to slobber  over.

They would rather genuflect to their darling, an FAU team that the Aztecs beat last year in the playoffs, just like they beat Creighton and a supposedly unbeatable Alabama team.

Polls don't matter, it's how you end up.

I don't know who will win this game. That is why they play.

The Aztecs are young and have lost Mensah, a defensive stopper now employed in the NBA.

But something tells me that this team might end up even better, if Heide and Pal continue to make improvements. We could get lightning in a bottle once again. 

Waters has been a real pickup, the transfer and Pac 12 sixth man of the year from USC. They have no bad losses, lost to a very good Grand Canyon team away and BYU, always tough. 

And Jaedon LeDee is having one of the greatest seasons an Aztec has ever had, back to Malachi Flynn, Leonard and Cage. This guy is a super stud, an incredibly dominant talent and future pro and his game is peaking at the right time. I am so optimistic about this team over time.

Our young players, including Heide, Byrd and Demarshay Johnson Jr., just need minutes. It will be interesting to see what evolves. Our program is one of the greatest in the country, built on hard work and defense, not procuring one and done NIL heartthrobs. Check out their record.

SDSU boasts the third-best winning percentage in the country since the start of the 2019-20 season, is one of five schools, nationally, to win at least 19 games each of the last 18 seasons, and since 2006 trails only Gonzaga among most conference championship game appearances in Division I. The Aztecs have 14 to the 'Zags 18. In addition, San Diego State has won a conference-record 16 Mountain West championships (regular-season and tournament) and its 75.8 percent winning percentage since the start of the 2009-10 campaign is the sixth best in the country.

 

The Aztecs are ready to start conference play. No "bad losses" so far.

And after years of dominating, the rest of the league has now finally caught up. New Mexico has an NBA ready guard tandem, with both players, House and Mashburn the sons of NBA stars. The Mountain West is 6-1 against the Pac-12 this year and 16-6 against the WCC. It has five teams with at least 10 wins and five in the top 40 of NET rankings.

All good teams, top to bottom and some of them will only get better.

This should be a heck of a season!