AZTECS UNRANKED BUT MOVE CLOSER
They are essentially No. 27 after victories over UCLA, UC Irvine
It took six weeks last year for San Diego State to crack the Associated Press Top 25 in men’s basketball.
This year, it will take at least two.
The Aztecs jumped from 12th among others receiving votes in the preseason poll to just outside the Top 25 released Monday following the opening week of the regular season. Convincing victories against preseason No. 22 UCLA (73-58) and Big West preseason favorite UC Irvine (77-58) moved them from six ballot points to 86.
That’s second among others receiving votes — or
effectively 27th overall.
“We just have to keep our head down, keep grinding, keep trying to win games and control the things we can control,” said coach Brian Dutcher, whose team went from unranked in the 2019-20 preseason poll to as high as No. 4. “That’s playing good basketball and trying to get better every day.
“If you’ve been in this program, you know what it is. It’s hard to get ranked. It’s hard to gain national respect. As
much as we have respect in the state of California and the people who know our program, nationally I think we’re still searching for that.”
Arizona State, SDSU’s opponent Dec. 10, dropped from 18th to 25th with 233 points. Michigan is next with 90. Then come the Aztecs.
The only other West Coast teams are Gonzaga, which remained No. 1 with 57 of 63 first-place votes, and No. 21 Oregon, which has yet to play a game. UCLA dropped to eighth among others receiving votes; Stanford is two spots behind the Bruins; and BYU and Colorado got one vote each.
Baylor is No. 2 after receiving the other six firstplace votes, followed by Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, Duke, Kansas, Michigan State, Creighton and Houston. Twenty-two teams in the Top 25 are from power con
ferences or the Big East (which is a de facto power conference in basketball).
Last year, the Aztecs appeared on none of the 60-odd media ballots for the preseason poll. They gradually moved up until cracking the Top 25 in week six after a 10-0 start. They were 30-2 and No. 6 in the final poll before the NCAA Tournament was canceled.
Only three media members put SDSU on their preseason ballots in 2020-21: Jon Wilner from the San Jose Mercury-News (23rd), Paul Klee from the Colorado Springs Gazette (24th) and John Feinstein, the author of numerous books on college basketball who is a regular contributor to National Public Radio (25th).
On Monday, the Aztecs appeared on 22 of the 63 ballots, ranging from 18th to 25th. Most of the love came from West Coast voters, although ESPN’s Dick Vitale has them 25th.
The Aztecs next play
Wednesday against Saint Katherine, an NAIA school in San Marcos. The game was scheduled after two conference games this weekend against Colorado State were postponed.
Mitchell honored
Senior Matt Mitchell was named Mountain West player of the week after leading the Aztecs to a 2-0 start. Mitchell had 15 points against UCLA and 11 against UC Irvine. He also had four steals, four assists and six rebounds in the two games.
It is the first player of the week award for Mitchell in his career, although it probably should be the second. He didn’t get it in February after scoring 24 second-half points and 28 total in a second-half comeback win against preseason favorite Utah State at Viejas Arena, and had a 12-point, five-assist effort three days earlier in a blowout win at New Mexico. Colorado State’s Isaiah Stevens got the
award instead after averaging 16.5 points that week.
Fresno State paused again
Fresno State’s team has been paused for 14 days for the third time this fall, following positive COVID-19 teams within the program. That wipes out four scheduled games against UC Riverside, Pepperdine, CSUN and Cal Poly — and consequently leaves those teams scrambling to find replacement oppoents.
It did not affect any Mountain West games since the Bulldogs had the bye during the first December round. But it might mean they won’t play any Division I nonconference games, with only NAIA Fresno Pacific on the schedule before their Mountain West opener in late December.
The Bulldogs have played once, an 87-47 win against NAIA William Jessup last Wednesday. They went to Stockton to face Pacific two days later, but the game was
canceled when the Tigers’ COVID-19 tests were delayed and referees grew tired of waiting after three hours. Fresno State got on the bus and drove home.
“These are hard times for everybody, and no one has been hit harder than Fresno State,” Dutcher said. “I know it’s extremely frustrating, but at some level there’s not a lot you can do about it. Sometimes it just visits your program, and you have to deal with it. We’re knocking on wood and trying to do the things we can to avoid it, but I think we all know in a blink of an eye you can be shut down.
“You look around the country and it’s happening everywhere.”
Fresno State and Colorado State aren’t the only Mountain West teams not playing this week. The conference announced Monday the two-game series between New Mexico and Boise State has been postponed.