March Madness: Power ranking the Sweet 16 teams left in 2024 NCAA Tournament

15. San Diego State Aztecs

Six Mountain West teams entered the NCAA Tournament but in the end, just one remains. The team with the highest seed San Diego State made history a year ago by being the first program from the conference to make a Final Four.

They took on UAB first, a team with an elite forward in Yaxel Lendeborg. But the Aztecs have their own star big man in Jaedon Ledee, who dropped 32 points and eight rebounds in the team’s 69-65 victory. Lamont Butler also had a nice game with 15 points to provide support.

Things were much easier in the Round of 32, as San Diego State took on 13-seed Yale, who upset Auburn on Friday. It was a blowout from start to finish, as they won 85-57. Ledee had another big game with 26 points and nine rebounds, while Darrion Trammell had 18 points and four assists while making 4/7 from deep.

Going forward, the path gets much harder for the Aztecs as they take on 1-seed UConn. It’s the rematch of the national title game when the Huskies handled them. They’ll be big favorites again but if Ledee goes off, the Aztecs will have a shot.