Who? The Aztecs of San Diego State.
What? Yeah, I know, I know. It's not my fault the school wanted something "more representative of a southwest image". Ladies and gentlemen, the Aztec Warrior.
Where? San Diego, California, America's Finest City.
When? March 10th, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Why? They won the Mountain West Conference tournament.
How? The Aztecs bent, but never broke, when New Mexico made several runs, and took the Mountain West title with a 57-43 win. Courtney Clements led the way with 16 points.
Surprise? Narrowly picked second in the conference, they took the top seed. Not a surprise, then?
RPI (as of 3/10): 95
SOS (as of 3/10): 314
Record: 25-6 (12-2 Mountain West)
Good wins: DePaul in Hawai'i, while the Blue Demons had Keisha Hampton.
Bad losses: Portland. San Diego. So does that mean SDSU would have trouble in the West Coast Conference?
Who's running this show? Beth Burns, since 2005. Sort of. It's weird.
Extra, Extra! The Union-Tribune.
Junior Courtney Clements is the team's leading scorer with 17.4 per game, and she's one of three players to average at least five rebounds, along with junior guard Chelsea Hopkins (who also puts up 6.5 assists) and freshman forward Chairese Culbertson. Beth Burns has been there and done that at both San Diego State and Ohio State; if they end up in a western pod, I'd be a nervous high seed.