SAN DIEGO – The 12 members of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Selection Committee gave teams and fans an in-season look at a scenario for the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship bracket if the season had ended on Friday night and for San Diego State men's basketball, the committee had them as a No. 4 seed.
The top-16 seeds were revealed, ranked and put into regions. San Diego State was the overall No. 14 seed in the bracket and the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region. The other three teams in the Midwest Region were Purdue (No. 1, No. 1 overall), Tennessee (No. 2, No. 6 overall) and Baylor (No. 3, No. 10 overall).
In the scenario revealed on Saturday, San Diego State would play at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash., in its first and second round games on March 22 and 24. If the Aztecs were to advance, they would compete at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on March 29 and 31. From there, if they continue to advance, SDSU would compete in the Final Four at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz. beginning April 6 with the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship game being contested on April 8.
If rankings remain as they were revealed today, San Diego State's Midwest Regional No. 4 seed would match the second highest the program has ever achieved, having been a West Region No. 4 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. That team reached the Sweet 16 and trailing only a No. 2 seed in the West Regional in the 11 NCAA Tournament, which also reached the Sweet 16.
The four No. 1 seeds were the aforementioned Purdue, Connecticut (No. 2 overall and in the East Region) Houston (No. 3 overall and in the South Region) and Arizona (No. 4 overall and in the West Region).
San Diego State, which following the games of Friday night, owned the national longest active home winning streak, 19 games, and receiving votes in both major polls, will put its 20-6 record on the line at Utah State on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MT/6 p.m. PT on CBS Sports Network. The Aztecs are ranked No. 15 in the NET, a season high, following its 81-70 victory at Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena on Friday evening. The NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) replaced RPI last year as the primary sorting tool for evaluating teams during the season. NET relies on game results, strength of schedule, location, scoring margin, net offensive and defensive efficiency, and the quality of wins and losses to create its rankings.