July 14, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
2016 Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic Bracket | 2016-17 Schedule (as of July 14)
San Diego State is set to compete at the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic in December and will open the tournament vs. Southern Miss. The Aztecs and Golden Eagles will meet on Dec. 22, at 2 p.m. HT (4 p.m. PT) on ESPN2. The tourney is set for Dec. 22, 23, and 25, inside Stan Sheriff Center.
With a victory in the opener, SDSU will face the winner of Tulsa-Stephen F. Austin on Dec. 23, at 11:30 a.m. HT (1:30 p.m. PT) on ESPN2. A loss sends them to an ESPN3 game at 1:30 p.m. HT (3:30 p.m. PT) vs. the loser of TU-SFA.
The game vs. Southern Miss will be the second meeting in school history and first since they met in Fairbanks, Alaska, back in 2005. The Aztecs defeated the Golden Eagles, 79-51, to claim third place at the BP Top of the World Classic.
Southern Miss has won at least 20 games in five of the last seven seasons and advanced to the postseason four times during that stretch. In the last five years alone, the Golden Eagles posted a minimum of 25 wins three times and went to the NCAA tournament or NIT in each of those campaigns.
As for Tulsa, the Golden Hurricane has earned a trip to the postseason the last four seasons, including NCAA trips in 2014 and 2016. Stephen F. Austin, meanwhile, has also been to the postseason in each of the last four years, reaching the NIT in 2013, and the NCAA tournament the last three seasons.
On the other side of the bracket is Utah-San Francisco and Hawai'i-Illinois State.
San Diego State is making its second trip to the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. In 2012, the No. 18/15 Aztecs defeated San Francisco and Indiana State to reach the championship game. With the two wins, SDSU moved to No. 17/16 in the national rankings, faced No. 3/3 Arizona and fell in a thrilling match-up, 68-67.
The balance of SDSU's non-conference schedule is not complete, but a handful of the Aztecs' games have been released. San Diego State will head to Gonzaga on Nov. 14, travel to Loyola (Ill.) on Dec. 3 for the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge, face Grand Canyon on the road on Dec. 7, and play host to Arizona State on Dec. 10.
San Diego State enters 2016-17 having won an average of 26 games the last 11 seasons, all of which have ended in postseason tournament appearances. The Aztecs, who have won a Mountain West-high 10 conference titles and returns three starters, will enter the upcoming campaign as the three-time defending regular-season champions. In the last three years alone, SDSU has averaged 28.7 victories, including a 28-win effort in 2015-16.