San Diego State Basketball: 5 reasons why Aztecs can win 2019-20 national title

1. No true weaknesses on the roster

Part of this article will be me trying to eliminate the negative perceptions folks have about mid-major teams when it comes to competing against the higher-level power conference teams. Along with citing the level of competition, the view is that most mid-major programs don’t have the size, speed or physicality to win four games in March.

San Diego State doesn’t have that problem though, thanks in a part due to transfers. When healthy, they have a trio of 6’10 forwards part of their regular rotation (Yanni Wetzel, Nathan Mensah, and Joel Mensah), along with 6’10 senior Nolan Narain who can play a few minutes as well. Their guards are big enough and physical to handle tougher competition, while also having some 6’6 wings to negate any potential mismatch thrown at them.

The Aztecs’ most versatile player is Matt Mitchell, a 6’6, 240-pound forward who is third on the team in both points (11.9 ppg) and rebounds (4.6 rpg). He can play and defend at both the small and power forward positions while shooting being able the spread the floor (40% shooting from deep). He started the season off the bench as an elite 6th man but was inserted into the starting lineup after Nathan Mensah went down with an injury.

There are teams currently ranked nationally that have some glaring flaws. Teams like Houston, Creighton, and Texas Tech has very little size in the frontcourt, while guard play for West Virginia and Louisville has been a consistent issue at times. San Diego State doesn’t have to worry about that, even whenever they’ve been short-handed.