SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's basketball team earned a No. 6 seed and will play the No. 11 seed Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (Midwest Region). The Aztecs (23-4, 14-3 MW) will face the Orange (16-9, 9-7 ACC) on Friday, March 19 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Game time is set for 6:40 p.m. PT and Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill will have the call for CBS.
The Aztecs, who will be making their 13th Division I NCAA Tournament appearance, have the second-best record (53-6) in the nation since the start of the 2019-20 season. They enter the tournament riding a 14-game winning streak, the third longest in the country, after capturing both the Mountain West regular season and tournament championship.
Syracuse finished the season 16-9 and finished eighth in the ACC with a 9-7 record. They beat the No. 9 seeded North Carolina State Wolfpack 89-68 in the second round of the ACC Tournament before falling to the top-seed, Virginia, 72-69 in the quarterfinals. Led by head coach Jim Boeheim and his son, leading scorer Buddy Boeheim, the Orange enter the tournament with a No. 40 NET ranking (SDSU is No. 18).
The Aztecs have played Syracuse twice in program history, losing both times. Their first meeting was in the second round of the 2007 NIT Tournament, an 80-64 loss at the Carrier Dome. Their second matchup came on on the USS Midway in San Diego Bay on Nov. 11, 2012, a 62-49 Aztec loss, when the Orange were ranked No. 9 in the country.
The winner of the SDSU-Syracuse clash will square off against the victor of the No. 3 seed West Virginia (18-9, 11-6 Big 12) vs. No. 14 Morehead State (23-7, 17-3 OVC) on Sunday, March 21.
Due to limited availability and high demand, only Aztec Club members at the $3,000 Annual Giving Level and above are eligible to request tickets from SDSU for the NCAA first round. Tickets will be allocated based on your priority ranking within your annual giving level. Aztec Club members who are eligible will be contacted via email.