San Diego State Basketball: 2019-20 season review of the Aztecs

ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO - JANUARY 29: KJ Feagin #10 of the San Diego State Aztecs shoots against the New Mexico Lobos during their game at Dreamstyle Arena - The Pit on January 29, 2020 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Aztecs defeated the Lobos 85-57. (Photo by Sam Wasson/Getty Images) /

1 of 6

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 22: Head coach Brian Dutcher of the San Diego State Aztecs (Photo by Kent Horner/Getty Images) /

Unfortunately for San Diego State basketball, they saw their best season ever cut short this year.

Before the month of March even started, San Diego State Basketball had a strong claim to being the best team in Mountain West history. They won their first 26 games of the season while winning the Las Vegas Invitational and the Mountain West’s regular-season title. During that time, they earned wins over BYU, Creighton, and Iowa who were all in the top 25 at the end of the year and two more over Utah State who finished the season as a team who was “receiving votes”.

The 27th game was when their run as the country’s last undefeated team came to a shocking end. They struggled through the first half and weren’t able to make up for with their 2nd half run, falling 3 points short against UNLV.

They won their next four after that to finish as only the second team in Mountain West history to finish with just one conference loss in the regular season and get themselves to the final of the conference tournament.

Then they fell short again, in a reversal of fortune from the way that they had won a lot of their games earlier in the year. The Aztecs held an 8-point lead over Utah State at halftime, but the Aggies were able to win with a late 3 from Sam Merrill.

If the season were to have continued, I think the Aztecs would have made a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Whether they entered as a 1 or 2 seed, they would have very likely been a team in my Final Four, especially if Nathan Mensah managed to return for the tournament.

As it stands, they advanced to the Sweet 16 in the most recent update of the Busting Brackets mock NCAA Tournament and are slated to face Seton Hall next. I believe they would win that matchup to put themselves into the Elite 8. From there, they’d get the winner of a matchup between Oregon and Gonzaga. If their next opponent is Oregon, I believe SDSU would win the region. In the case of a Gonzaga win, the Aztecs would have a tougher time getting the win, but I still believe their stifling 3 point defense would help them win a close battle against the Zags.

I believe the Aztecs built a strong case in favor of them being the best team the Mountain West has ever seen (I’ll have more about this in a future article) and they would have become the first team in conference history to make it to the Final Four if the season had continued.