San Diego State basketball’s pursuit of the first perfect regular season in Mountain West history ended on Sunday, but they can still be the conference’s first #1 seed ever in the NCAA tournament if they can bounce back from their first loss.
That first loss came at the hands of UNLV in an absolutely shocking performance from San Diego State Basketball where the Aztec shooters finally went cold. Their undefeated streak may be over, but there are still plenty of milestones for the Aztecs to pursue. If they can win their next two games, they would be only the second team ever to finish the Mountain West regular season with just one loss (the other is Utah in 2005).
They also might still be in contention for a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament (although I wouldn’t be shocked to see the committee undervalue them). Gonzaga’s loss last night even kept their hopes for the #1 seed alive if they can win out and Gonzaga picks up another loss. For any of this to happen, they’ll need to regain some momentum with a win against Colorado State on Tuesday.
Colorado State doesn’t quite have the same lofty goals as San Diego State, but they still have plenty to play for as this season winds down. They currently find themselves in a 3-way tie for 4th place in the conference but would lose tiebreakers to the other two if they remain tied. That would leave them as the highest-ranked team that has to play in the first round of the Mountain West tournament. That means they’ll need some help from elsewhere even if they can win this and their last game of the season, but it will all need to start with an upset win over San Diego State.
This battle will take place on Tuesday night at Viejas Arena and will give us our first chance to see how this Aztec team responds to adversity. Here are the keys for them to avoid their first losing streak of the season.