NCAA Basketball: Strengths and weaknesses of each top-25 team for 2022-23 season

19. San Diego State Aztecs

Strength: Backcourt production

The Aztecs bring back star guard and leading scorer Matt Bradley (16.9 ppg) for another year, who was at times their lone source of offense. Adding to the backcourt is Seattle U transfer Darrion Trammell, who averaged over 18.0 ppg in the past two years. He also was an All-WAC defender and leader in steals, which fits the team’s defensive scheme as well.

Add 5th-year senior Adam Seiko returning to the mix and we have a solid core of scoring and defending guards for San Deigo State. It’s one of the best among all mid-majors and honestly out on the west coast and will be the reason why they make it back to the NCAA Tournament.

Weakness: Frontcourt scoring production

The Aztecs starting frontcourt duo of Nathan Mensah and Keshad Johnson are quality defenders and rebounders but aren’t much scorers, producing 7.0 and 7.2 ppg respectively. They did add Oakland transfer wing Micah Parrish, who was a double-digit producer as a freshman. He should add a boost but don’t expect him to put up 15 ppg either.

As good as San Diego State’s backcourt will be offensively, they’ll go against teams capable of shutting them down. The frontcourt will have to find a way to get production at times, as that could be what prevents them from going on a run in March.