SAN DIEGO – San Diego State men's basketball, one of four teams in the nation without a loss on its resume, moved up to No. 20 in both the Associated Press and Coaches Polls this week after debuting last week at No. 25 and No. 24, respectively.
At 10-0 overall and 2-0 in the Mountain West, the SDSU more than doubled its points total from last week, moving from 197 to 431 in the AP and from 82 to 186 points in the Coaches Poll. This is second straight week San Diego State is the only Mountain West school ranked in either poll.
SDSU's five spot move up the AP poll is the fourth largest jump in program history trailing only an eight-spot increase from No. 21 to No. 13 on Jan. 6, 2014 after wins at Colorado State and No. 16/17 Kansas. Twice, on Jan. 16, 2012 and Dec. 3, 2012, the Aztecs made six-spot increases in the AP Poll, moving from No. 22 to No. 16 and No. 23 to No. 17, respectively.
The last time the program made a four-spot move up the Coaches Poll was Jan. 20, 2014, jumping from No. 11 to No. 7 after back-to-back wins over Fresno State and UNLV.
Overall this marks the 68th week San Diego State has been nationally ranked; all having occurred since the 2010-11 season.
The Aztecs 10-0 start is halfway to the program record for wins to open a season without a loss, which the 2010-11 team achieved at 20-0 on its way to the Mountain West regular-season and tournament championships and a trip to the Sweet-16 of the NCAA Tournament.
In addition, the latest NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool), which replaced RPI this year as the primary sorting tool for evaluating teams during the Division I men's basketball season, ranks the Aztecs No. 3 in the nation. NET relies on game results, strength of schedule, game location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses to create its rankings.
SDSU closes out 2019 with a pair of home games against San Diego Christian on Wednesday, Dec. 18 and Cal Poly on Saturday, Dec. 28, with tip times set for 7 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively. In between those contests San Diego State plays in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in STAPLES Center on Saturday, Dec. 21 against Utah. That game is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m.
The matchup against Cal Poly will be the final home game before San Diego State's mini-plans kick in. The weekend four-game mini-plan features home games versus Boise State (Jan. 11), Nevada (Jan. 18), Utah State (Feb. 1), and UNLV (Feb. 22) and costs only $99. The weeknight four-game mini plan includes Fresno State (Jan. 1), Wyoming (Jan. 21), New Mexico (Feb. 11) and Colorado State (Feb. 25) and costs just $50. To purchase tickets, log onto GoAztecs.com, visit the Aztec Ticket Office at Window E at Qualcomm Stadium or call (619) 283-7378.