San Diego State started the season 21-0 and was so impressive while doing it that Wednesday night's game at New Mexico was, from a numbers perspective, one of the last real tests on the schedule.
The Aztecs passed it.
No problem.
Brian Dutcher's team jumped to a 17-0 lead, led by 23 points at the half and cruised to an 85-57 victory that snapped New Mexico's 15-game winning streak at home. So now the Aztecs are 22-0 and projected by KenPom to be at least 8-point favorites in every game between now and the end of the regular season.
It's why I believe SDSU will be undefeated on Selection Sunday.
If the Aztecs do it, they'll be the first team to enter the NCAA Tournament with a zero in the loss column since Kentucky was 34-0 entering the 2015 NCAA Tournament. If the Aztecs do it, they'll be a No. 1 seed and thus be setup, as well as possible, to make the Final Four for the first time in school history.
San Diego State is No. 3 in Thursday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Aztecs' next game is Saturday against Utah State. It should be quite a scene at Viejas Arena considering San Diego State will be retiring Kawhi Leonard's jersey. It'll be the first jersey retirement in school history.
Thursday's Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Gonzaga
| Killian Tillie finished with 22 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 92-59 victory over Pacific. The Zags will take a 13-game winning streak into Thursday's game with Santa Clara. | -- | 5-0 |
2 |
Baylor
| MaCio Teague finished with 15 points and four rebounds in Wednesday's 67-53 victory at Iowa State. The Bears' 17-game winning streak features wins over Kansas, Villanova and Butler. | -- | 4-2 |
3 |
San Diego St.
| KJ Feagin made six 3-pointers and finished with 18 points in Wednesday's 85-57 victory at New Mexico. The Aztecs are 22-0 for the first time in history. | -- | 2-1 |
4 |
Kansas
| Christian Braun made four 3-pointers and finished with 16 points in Monday's 65-60 victory at Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks will take a five-game winning streak into Saturday's game with Texas Tech. | -- | 5-0 |
5 |
Villanova
| Saddiq Bey made five 3-pointers and finished with 23 points in Tuesday's 79-59 victory at St. John's. The Wildcats are 9-3 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first quadrant. | -- | 3-3 |
6 |
Louisville
| Jordan Nwora made seven 3-pointers and finished with 37 points in Wednesday's 86-69 victory at Boston College. Louisville will take a seven-game winning streak into Saturday's game at NC State. | -- | 3-1 |
7 |
Dayton
| Obi Toppin finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds in Wednesday's 73-69 victory at Duquesne. Both of the Flyers' losses are overtime losses to schools also ranked in the Top 25 And 1. | -- | 5-0 |
8 |
Seton Hall
| Myles Powell finished with 24 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 64-57 victory over DePaul. The Pirates are 8-0 in the Big East for the first time in history. | -- | 3-3 |
9 |
Florida St.
| The Seminoles missed two potential game-tying shots in the final seconds of Tuesday's 61-56 loss at Virginia. The defeat snapped Florida State's 10-game winning streak. | 1 | 5-1 |
10 |
West Virginia
| The Mountaineers finished with 11 turnovers and five assists in Wednesday's 89-81 loss at Texas Tech. West Virginia is 9-4 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with zero losses outside of the first two quadrants. | 1 | 3-1 |
11 |
Duke
| Vernon Carey finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds in Tuesday's 79-67 victory over Pitt. The Blue Devils' next three games are all on the road -- at Syracuse, Boston College and North Carolina. | -- | 4-1 |
12 |
Maryland
| Jalen Smith finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday's 77-76 victory at Indiana. All four of Maryland's losses are to top-35 KenPom teams. | -- | 4-1 |
13 |
Michigan St.
| Cassius Winston made four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points in Wednesday's 79-50 victory over Northwestern. The Spartans are 8-2 in the Big Ten heading into Saturday's game at Wisconsin. | -- | 4-1 |
14 |
Oregon
| Chris Duarte finished with 24 points, six rebounds, six steals and five assists in Sunday's 96-75 victory over UCLA. The Ducks are atop the Pac-12 standings with a 6-2 league record. | -- | 5-0 |
15 |
Auburn
| Samir Doughty finished with 17 points and five rebounds in Tuesday's 83-82 double-overtime victory at Ole Miss. The Tigers won despite opening the game down 17-3. | -- | 4-0 |
16 |
Butler
| Sean McDermott made seven 3-pointers and finished with 25 points in Tuesday's 69-64 victory at Georgetown. The Bulldogs won despite trailing by 11 points at the half. | -- | 4-1 |
17 |
Iowa
| Luka Garza finished with 21 points and 18 rebounds in Monday's 68-62 victory over Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes will take a five-game winning streak into Thursday's game at Maryland. | -- | 5-1 |
18 |
Kentucky
| Nick Richards finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday's 71-62 victory over Vanderbilt. Kentucky outscored the Commodores 43-27 in the second half to avoid the upset. | -- | 5-0 |
19 |
Houston
| Caleb Mills scored 18 points off the bench in Wednesday's 69-59 victory at East Carolina. The Cougars are 11-1 in their past 12 games. | -- | 3-1 |
20 |
Wichita St.
| Dexter Dennis finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's 87-79 victory over UCF. Two of the Shockers' three losses are to teams ahead of them in the Top 25 And 1. | -- | 5-0 |
21 |
Penn St.
| Lamar Stevens finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in Wednesday's 64-49 victory over Indiana. The Nittany Lions will take a three-game winning streak into Saturday's game at Nebraska. | -- | 5-0 |
22 |
Illinois
| Ayo Dosunmu finished with 27 points and seven rebounds in Saturday's 64-62 victory at Michigan. Illinois will take a six-game winning streak into Thursday's game with Minnesota. | -- | 4-1 |
23 |
LSU
| Trendon Watford finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds in Wednesday's 90-76 victory over Alabama. LSU is 7-0 in the SEC and alone atop the league standings. | -- | 4-1 |
24 |
Creighton
| Ty-Shon Alexander finished with 24 points and three rebounds in Sunday's 77-66 victory over Xavier. The Bluejays will take a three-game winning streak into Saturday's game at Villanova. | -- | 4-1 |
25 |
Rutgers
| Caleb McConnell finished with 16 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday's 70-63 victory over Purdue. Rutgers is 15-0 at home this season | -- | 4-0 |
26 |
Colorado
| McKinley Wright finished with 15 points and eight rebounds in Saturday's 76-62 victory over Washington. The Buffaloes are 8-3 in Quadrant 1/Quadrant 2 opportunities with just one loss outside of the first two quadrants. | -- | 4-0 |