San Diego State kicks of its men’s basketball season Friday night against Cal State Northridge with high expectations and a number of streaks on the line.
First the streaks. They have 14 straight home wins, tied for sixth most in the country. They have 48 straight non-conference wins against unranked opponents. And they are putting a 41-game win streak against California schools – the longest such active streak for any team against any state in the country – on the line.
They’re also ranked No. 16 in the AP preseason poll, their 17th straight appearance in the rankings and the highest the team has ever been ranked in the preseason.
Which leads to the expectations.
ESPN's Bracketology NCAA Tournament predictor, out on Thursday, picks them for a No. 4 seed when March comes around. Some analysts even have them pegged for the Final Four. With a program that has five straight NCAA Tournament appearance with two 30-win seasons and Sweet 16 appearances in the past four years, you’re not sneaking up on anyone.
“We love them,” said junior Winston Shepard of the expectations from fans and the media. “That’s what comes when you have a program that has continued to win, continued to produce great players. Every year those expectations go up. We don’t run from them.”
He is one of seven upperclassmen on a squad that’s teeming with experience, including four seniors. One of those seniors, JJ O’Brien, says the high hopes serve as motivation throughout the season.
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"It definitely keeps us on our toes,” he said. “There's not going to be any flying under the radar this year. People have high expectations for us, so it puts good pressure on us to get better every day and really achieve our goals this year."
One of head coach Steve Fisher’s biggest concerns might be getting enough minutes for everyone, as the roster will go even deeper with the addition of lauded freshmen Malik Pope and St. Augustine product Trey Kell.
That’s a nice problem to have as the Aztecs shoot for their ninth Mountain West Conference championship. Fisher said he’ll use the early part of the season to give players a chance to earn more minutes.
"We're going to play a lot of guys early,” he said. “It's good competition we're playing, and we'll find out who can do what under what circumstances. It will be interesting to us too. Usually it has a way of working itself out. I would say there is a chance that our starting lineup will vary as our season goes on."
While the season opener is usually reserved for in-state cupcakes, they get a CSUN team that might present a bit of a challenge as they play as part of the Maui Invitational Mainland Challenge.
The Matadors finished a somewhat respectable 17-18 last season under first-year coach and former NBA star Reggie Theus. Seniors Stephan Hicks and Stephen Maxwell both topped 17 points per game and lead a team with NCAA Tournament aspirations of their own.
The Aztecs have won three straight in the series and hold an 18-6 all-time record in the series.
SDSU starts off with three straight home games (Tuesday vs. Utah and Nov. 20 vs. Bakersfield) before heading to Hawaii the following week for the main portion of the Maui Invitational.
The Aztecs played an exhibition game last week, defeating Point Loma Nazarene 74-45 on Friday night.
