Mid-major Basketball: Preseason Top-25 power rankings for 2020-21 season

4. San Diego State Aztecs

The last team to avoid losing a game last season, San Deigo State is hoping to keep the momentum going for the upcoming season. It’ll be tough, not having starting forward Yanni Wetzell, elite defending guard KJ Feagin, and Malachi Flynn, the Mountain West Player of the Year and easily the best impact transfer from all of last year.

A big part of what will determine the Aztecs’ success will be Cal State Northridge transfer point guard Terell Gomez. The 5’8 scorer produced over 19 ppg in the last two seasons and shot 44% on eight attempts a game from three-point range. He likely won’t be the same kind of defender that Flynn was but his offensive potential will be helpful for the team.

Another grad transfer the program has coming in is Joshua Tomaić, a 6’10 power forward who spent three seasons as a reserve at Maryland. He didn’t play much but the Aztecs are hoping he can have a similar impact that Wetzell did. San Diego State also will have center Nathan Mensah back after playing just 13 games last season due to health issues.

The team will depend largely on sharpshooting guard Jordan Schakel and Matt Mitchell, a 6’6 forward who averaged 12.2 ppg and 4.8 rpg last season. He’s a great shooter and an elite two-way player and could have his breakout campaign as a senior, now a go-to option for the team.

As long as the defensive strength remains intact, San Diego State should be the favorites to win the Mountain West. There will be pressure on Gomez to replicate the kind of impact that Flynn had. We’ll see if he’s up to the task but there still is plenty of experience and balanced talent both inside and out to have another quality season.