SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's basketball team, coming off its run to the national championship game at the 2023 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament, is ranked No. 17 and has garnered 529 points in the preseason AP Top 25 Poll, which was released on Monday morning. It marks the fifth time in program history, and second in as many seasons, that SDSU has earned inclusion on the initial AP poll, and all have come since the start of the 2010-11 campaign.
The Aztecs are the only program in the Mountain West to appear in the AP's initial poll.
In its four previous appearances in the preseason AP poll, San Diego State was ranked No. 25 and received 158 points to start the 2010-11 season, No. 20 with 463 points before the 2012-13 season, No. 16 and 560 points to open the 2014-15 campaign, and No. 19 last year with 394 points.
This appearance marks the eighth straight week the Aztecs have been ranked, including No. 18 in the AP's final poll last year. Overall, the Aztecs have been ranked in the AP poll 102 weeks, which is the most by any team in the state of California since the start of the 2010-11 season and the 18th most in the nation in that timeframe: ahead of UCLA's 86, Saint Mary's 53, Southern California's 36, and California's 11.
Among Mountain West program's total of weeks in the AP poll since 2010-11, San Diego State's 102 are more than three times more than the 28 both Nevada and New Mexico have garnered. Others in the league who have appeared in the poll in that time frame are UNLV (27 weeks), Colorado State (10 weeks) and Boise State (two weeks).
Last week, SDSU was predicted to win the Mountain West by a poll of the media who regularly cover the conference, and Lamont Butler and Reese Waters were named to the Preseason All-Mountain West Team and Newcomer of the Year, respectively.
In 2023-24, San Diego State welcomes back a pair of returning starters from the 2022-23 squad which played for the national championship in Butler and senior guard Darrion Trammell, as well as Jaedon LeDee and Micah Parrish. In all, the Aztecs return four letterwinners and have brought five newcomers into the fold, featuring Waters and Jay Pal, who while attending and competing for Campbell, was the third leading shot blocker in the Big South. In addition, sophomore's Elijah Saunders, Miles Byrd and Demarshay Johnson Jr. are also back and will be bolstered by freshmen, BJ Davis, Miles Heide and Magoon Gwath.
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 play an exhibition on Monday, October 30, against Cal State San Marcos in Viejas Arena and then host its regular-season opener on Monday, November 6, against Cal State Fullerton.
For more information on tickets for the 2023-24 San Diego State men's basketball season, contact the Aztec Athletics Ticket Office at 619-283-7378 or aztix@sdsu.edu.