San Diego State enters the season projected to finish in fourth place in the highly competitive Mountain West Conference.
The Aztecs made it to their fifth NCAA Tournament under head coach Brian Dutcher. For the second consecutive year, the Aztecs lost to UConn. After falling to the Huskies in the national championship game in 2023, San Diego State lost in the Sweet 16 last season.
New faces
The Aztecs have new faces on this year’s team, not only on their roster but on their coaching staff. Chris Acker departed the Aztecs after five seasons as an assistant coach to take the head coaching job at Long Beach State. Ryan Badrtalei filled the void left by Acker after spending 15 years as an assistant coach at UC Irvine.
Pharaoh Compton is a player fans should keep a close eye on this season. The 6-foot-8 freshman from Chicago, Illinois, was voted as the conference’s Preseason Freshman of the Year. Compton is a top 100 recruit who received tons of Power Five recruiting interest. He averaged 19.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game as a senior at Arbor View High in Las Vegas.
Jared Coleman-Jones is a 6-foot-10 senior transfer from Middle Tennessee who averaged 11 points and 7.6 rebounds in 28 minutes per game during his time with the Blue Raiders.
Senior guard Nick Boyd also figures to play a notable role for the Aztecs this season. He spent the last four years at Florida Atlantic, where he was a key piece in the program’s back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances, including a memorable Final Four run in 2023. He averaged 9.3 points and 2.7 rebounds in 23.9 minutes per game for FAU last season.
Schedule
The Aztecs will play its first three non-conference matchups on their home court at The Viejas Arena on Nov. 6 against the UC San Diego Tritons. The most anticipated game for the Aztecs in the three-home game stretch run is against Gonzaga on Nov 18. The Bulldogs are coming off a Sweet 16 loss to Purdue last season and have a talented roster with the potential to make a similar postseason run this season.
The Aztecs will play in the Players Era Impact Tournament in Las Vegas during the week of Thanksgiving. They will face Creighton, Oregon and Texas A&M in the three-day tournament. All games will be played at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
On Dec. 4, SDSU will play its first conference game against visiting Fresno State. The Bulldogs are coming off a 4-14 Mountain West record. Despite their regular season conference records, the Bulldogs advanced through the first round of the conference tournament before falling to the regular-season champions, Utah State.
On Dec. 28, the Aztecs will face Utah State at home. Utah State experienced a coaching change in the offseason but figures to compete again for the regular-season conference title this season.
The Mountain West Conference will be competitive this year as SDSU only got two first-place votes, projecting them to end in fourth place. Boise State, New Mexico and Nevada rank ahead of the Aztecs.
