NCAA Basketball: Way-too-early ranking of 2022 Maui Invitational field

5. San Diego State Aztecs

San Diego State projects to be one of the best mid-majors in the country this season. That’s largely due to the presence of Matt Bradley.

Bradley averaged 16.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per game last season with the Aztecs, his first season with the program after transferring from Cal. In four collegiate seasons, Bradley has yet to average less than 10 points per game in a single year.

Bradley will have help on the scoring side of things with Seattle transfer Darrion Trammell. He was even more prolific than Bradley last season, albeit at a lower level, averaging 17.3 points per game. They should form a dynamic scoring duo.

Nathan Mensah is also back for his fifth season with the Aztecs. The Ghanaian big man has never been a big stat stuffer, but he contributes on the defensive end in a major way and averaged a career-high 2.2 blocks per game last year. Maybe this is the season he averages double-digits.

This team, however, will probably go as far as Bradley takes them. That will be true in Maui, too.

Opposing defenses are going to key in on Bradley, forcing Mensah and some of the Aztecs’ other players to beat them. San Diego State’s talent might be enough to snare a win in Hawaii, maybe even two, but they don’t look like a contender for the Maui Invitational title.