SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's basketball team, 2020-21 Mountain West regular-season champions and the No. 1 seed in this week's Mountain West Tournament, held steady in the Associated Press poll and moved up two spots in the USA Today Coaches Poll. The Aztecs remain No. 19 in the AP Poll and moved up to a tie for No. 19 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, both of which were published on March 8.
SDSU is ranked for the sixth week this year. After initially entering the AP Poll at No. 24 on Dec. 7, 2020, the team jumped to No. 18 the following week. The Aztecs got back into the poll on Feb. 15 and steadily climbed for three weeks, first at No. 25, then to No. 22, and in the last two weeks at No. 19. San Diego State totaled 462 points in this week's AP Poll and 227 in the Coaches Poll.
Today's poll ranking marks the fifth time that SDSU has appeared in the AP Top-25 on this date.
March 8, 2011 No. 7 (NCAA Tournament Sweet-16 appearance w/ Kawhi Leonard)
March 8, 2012 No. 18
March 8, 2014 No. 10 (NCAA Tournament Sweet-16 appearance)
March 8, 2020 No. 5
March 8, 2021 No. 19
Overall, this marks the 87th week the program has been ranked in the AP Top-25 and all have come since the start of the 2010-11 season. Those 87 weeks are the 19th most for any school in the nation in that time frame; ahead of Oregon (81 weeks), Maryland (74), Florida State (63 weeks) and UCLA (48 weeks). The program's No. 19 ranking marks the 63rd week it has appeared in the AP Top-20 since the start of the 2010-11 season as well.
In addition, the latest NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool), the primary sorting tool for evaluating teams during the Division I men's basketball season, ranks the Aztecs No. 21 in the nation (published on March 7). 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. As of today, San Diego State is among the top 20 teams in the following metrics – BPI, KenPom, RPI, and Tovik.
Last week, in its 71-62 victory at UNLV, the Aztecs moved to 20-4 overall and 14-3 in Mountain West action, secured the Mountain West regular-season crown and the No. 1 seed in this week's MW Tournament in Las Vegas.
San Diego State will play the winner of the No. 8-seed Wyoming vs. No. 9-seed San Jose State matchup from the opening round of the MW Tournament. The Aztecs are scheduled to meet that game's winner at 12 p.m. (PT) on Thursday, March 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
-SDSU-
Aztecs At No. 19/T-19 In National Polls
