No. 20 SDSU to Face College of Charleston at NCAA Tournament

The No. 20/20 San Diego State men's basketball team received the fifth seed in the South Region and will face 12th-seeded College of Charleston in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the NCAA announced Sunday afternoon. The Aztecs (27-6), who earned the Mountain West's automatic bid after winning the league's tournament, will meet the Cougars (31-3) Thursday at Amway Center in Orlando, Florida, at 3:10 p.m. ET (12:10 p.m. PT) on truTV.

This is SDSU's 18th overall NCAA Tournament appearance, 15th at the Division I level, 10th in the last 14 years, and fourth in the six seasons since head coach Brian Dutcher took over the reigns of the program (the Aztecs were 30-2 in 2019-20 but the NCAA Tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic).

San Diego State captured the MW regular season with a 15-3 record, and then beat Colorado State (64-61), San Jose State (64-49) and Utah State (62-57) at the MW Championship over the weekend for its seventh MW tournament title.

College of Charleston, meanwhile, earned the Colonial Athletic Association's automatic bid for the NCAA tournament by beating UNCW, 63-58, in the championship game on March 7. The Cougars have won their last 10 games and have set a CAA record with 31 victories on the season.

The winner of No. 5 San Diego State and No. 12 College of Charleston will square off in the second round with the winner of No. 4 Virginia (25-7) and No. 13 Furman (27-7) on Saturday, March 18.

The Aztecs and Cougars have met once before with SDSU winning, 72-52, in the opening game of the Wooden Legacy on Nov. 28, 2013 in Fullerton, California.