SAN DIEGO – For the first time since 2012 both of San Diego State's basketball programs will be participating in the NCAA Tournament, and on Sunday afternoon both learned their Big Dance destinations.
In the case of the Aztecs women's basketball team, they found out their ticket punched in a triple overtime Mountain West Tournament Championship win was good for a trip to Baton Rouge, La., as they watched the selection show in the theater at the Fowler Athletic Center surrounded family, friends and members of the San Diego State community.
SDSU was slotted as the No. 14 seed in the Spokane I regional and will face three-seeded Louisiana State (30-5, 12-4), who ended the season ranked No. 10 and finished third in the SEC, on March 22. Joining them in the pod will be No. 6 seed and ACC fourth-place finisher Florida State (23-8, 13-5), who face No. 11 seed Geoge Mason (27-5, 14-4), winners of the Atlantic-10 tournament after finishing second in the conference.
It's the third time the programs have qualifed for the NCAA Tournament in the same season, with it first happening in 1985 and then again in 2010. 2023 was the most recent time both particpated in the posteason in the same year, with the men making their memorable run to the championship game while the women qualifed for the WNIT to make their first postseason trip in 10 seasons.
Aztecs men headed for Dayton, Ohio, and First Four
Make it five trips in a row to the field of 68 for the Scarlet and Black men, as for the first time the program will have to earn their way onto the 64-team bracket as a No. 11 seed by facing ACC fourth-place finisher North Carolina (22-13, 13-7) at 6:10 p.m. on Tuesday, March 18 at UD Arena. The teams have not met since 1990 when the Aztecs traveled to Chapel Hill, N.C., with the Tar Heels holding the 2-0 edge in the all time series.
The Aztecs were placed in the South Region, with the winner set to face sixth-seeded Mississippi (22-1, 10-8) – who finished sixth in the SEC – at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on March 21. In the other matchup in that pod, third-seeded and fifth-place Big 12 finisher Iowa State (24-9, 13-7) faces the Atlantic-Sun regular season and tournament champion Lipscomb Bisons (25-9, 14-4).
SDSU have qualified for the NCAA Tournament six times in head coach Brian Dutcher's eight seasons, and they would have qualified in 2020 had the tournament not been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They are one of four qualifiers from the Mountain West Conference including regular season champion New Mexico, who was seeded No. 10 in the South Region against No. 7 seed Marquette. Tournament champion Colorado State was seeded No. 12 in the West Region and faces No. 5 Memphis, and Utah State earned an at-large No. 10 seed in the Midwest Region against No. 7 seed UCLA. Boise State, who played in the conference tournament championship game, did not earn an NCAA Tournament berth.
Big moment for San Diego as UCSD teams dance too
In addition to the celebrations on The Mesa, out in La Jolla, Calif., the UC San Diego Tritons celebrated the first March Madness berths for their Big West regular season and tournament champion men's squad and tournament titlist women's team. It's the first season that the Tritons have been eligible for the NCAA postseason after completing a four-year elevation period in 2023-24.
The UCSD men (30-4, 18-2) were seeded 12th in the South Region and face No. 5 seed and Big Ten tournament champion Michigan (25-9, 14-6) at Ball Arena in Denver. The other match up in their pod is SEC fifth-place finisher No. 4 Texas A&M (22-10, 11-7) and Ivy League regular season plus tournament champion No. 13 Yale (22-7, 13-1).
Senior guard/forward Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones earned Big West Player of the Year honors, senior guard Hayden Gray was named Best Defensive Player, junior Chris Howell earned Best Hustle Player and junior Justin Rochelin took the Best Sixth Player award. Tait-Jones and senior Tyler McGhie were named all conference first team, while Gray was named second team as the Tritons were the only team to earn multiple major awards in the conference.
Since opening the season with a 63-58 loss at Viejas Arena, UCSD has been one of the most consistent teams on the West Coast. After a loss to Seattle U on November 16, 2024, back-to-back Big West Coach of the Year Eric Olen's team has won 28 of 30 games and mowed through the conference tournament as the top seed by taking out fifth-seeded UC Santa Barbara 69-51 and running away from second-seeded UC Irvine 75-61.
The Triton women slotted as a 16 seed and will compete in a First Four game against SWAC regular season and tournament champion Southern (20-14, 15-3) on Wednesday, March 19 at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. The winner heads to the Spokane I region to face top overall No. 1 seed and Big Ten tournament champion UCLA (30-2, 15-2) on Friday, March 21.
After finishing the regular season tied for third place and being seeded fourth in the Big West Tournament, UCSD knocked off No. 8 Cal Poly 59-54, upset regular season champion No. 1 Hawaii 51-49 and then beat third-seeded UC Davis 75-66 to win the championship. The Tritons have won six of their last seven games.
Junior guard Sabrina Ma was an honorable mention for Big West Newcomer of the Year after transferring from San José State, sophomore guard Sumaya Sugapong earned an All-Big West First Team selection and redshirt sophomore guard Gracie Gallegos was an all conference honorable mention. Sugapong was an honorable mention for Freshman of the Year and an All Freshman selection with Gallegos last season.
This story will be updated.
