Despite playing in the Mountain West, San Diego State has been a mainstay at the top of college basketball for much of this century. The Aztecs have consistently been able to win games in March and even reached the national title game two years ago, losing to UConn.
This season, San Diego State got off to a red-hot start in non-conference play, but has since faltered against some of the top teams in the Mountain West. As a result, the Aztecs find themselves on the bubble heading into Selection Sunday.
Some of those losses can be attributed to injuries. Magoon Gwath, one of San Diego State’s best big men and players overall, has been out since Feb. 22 with a knee injury, but head coach Brian Dutcher says that Gwath is nearing a return to the court according to college basketball insider Jon Rothstein.
“San Diego State’s Magoon Gwath (knee) is available for the NCAA Tournament if the Aztecs are selected, per Brian Dutcher,” Rothstein reported on X, formerly Twitter.
Gwath had a stellar freshman season for San Diego State. He averaged 8.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game in 25 minutes a night on his way to being named Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and Mountain West Freshman of the Year. Gwath’s ability to protect the rim completely transforms this San Diego State squad and makes it very hard to score on.
Including that Feb. 22 game, a 79-71 loss to Utah State where the big man only played two minutes, the Aztecs are just 3-3 including a crucial upset loss against UNLV, so it’s clear that they need Gwath out there in order to play their best basketball.
Of course, it’s no guarantee that San Diego State even makes it into the tournament. Dutcher’s group seems to be on the right side of the bubble at the moment, but anything is possible given the way the committee devalued the Mountain West last season. Maybe the selection committee will take into account that SDSU was missing one of its most important players in some of these late-season losses.
One thing that should differentiate this San Diego State basketball team from some of the other teams on the bubble are its non-conference wins, especially ones away from home. Back in November, the Aztecs knocked off UC San Diego at home before heading to Las Vegas and getting a pair of very impressive wins over Creighton and Houston.
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