NCAA Basketball: Preseason top 25 mid-major power rankings for 2022-23 season

3. San Diego State Aztecs

2021-22 record: 23-9 (13-4 in Mountain West)

The Aztecs’ second-ranked scoring defense made up for not having many quality scorers last season. But they were in good hands with the lone double-digit scorer, Matt Bradley. He led the team with 16.9 ppg, while shooting over 40% from three-point range. That included seven games of at least 25 points, with a 30-point effort against Wyoming the high.

San Diego State returns two more key backcourt players in Adam Seiko and Lamont Butler, both quality defenders and solid contributors. But they needed some more offense on the team and they got that in Seattle transfer Darrion Trammell. In the past two years, the 5’10 point guard averaged 18.7 ppg and 5.1 apg. He had several 30+ point efforts and also was named to an All-WAC Defensive team, making him the ideal fit both ways for the team.

The frontcourt has a chance to be a strength for the Aztecs as well. Starting center Nathan Mensah is back and he’s as good an interior defender as there comes, while Keshad Johnson also comes back at the four-spot. There’s more depth this time around too, with Oakland combo transfer Micah Parrish adding scoring depth, while Jaedon LeDee returns from injury and could be a breakout candidate after transferring over from TCU.

San Diego State’s defense is going to remain elite but if the offense finds a way to take it up a notice as well with these newcomers, they’ll be ranked in the top 25 for a good portion of this season.