The court was stormed. The nets were cut. The confetti that fell on the Viejas Arena floors has long since been cleaned up. After a 24-7 season, this year's San Diego State Aztecs are regular-season Mountain West champions once again.
But, like any good basketball coach will tell you, it's time to look ahead.
Head coach Steve Fisher said at the team's press conference Monday afternoon:
But before they can start looking toward the Big Dance later this month, Fisher and his squad enter the 2015 MW Tournament as the No. 2 seed—earning themselves a first-round bye in the process.
Seeded only behind the AP No. 25 Boise State Broncos (24-7, 14-4 MW), whom SDSU lost to on two different occasions this season, the Aztecs look poised to make a solid run for their first MW Tournament title since Kawhi Leonard and Co. managed to outdo Jimmer Fredette and the boys of Brigham Young back in 2011.
First up for Dwayne Polee II and the Aztecs is a matchup against the UNLV Runnin' Rebels (17-14, 8-10 MW) or the Nevada Wolf Pack (9-21, 5-13 MW). Unlike they've done all season long, the Aztecs won't just be able to prepare for one team heading into Thursday's matchup.
"I think what you do is prepare yourself," Fisher said. "You prepare San Diego State to get better. We will look at some film with our players at both of those teams and show things that we did, they did, things that we will try to do better, try to anticipate what they may do to us that could be different and prepare that way. I don't think it's a big deal. It's not like we haven't played either of them recently, with one last Wednesday and the other last Saturday."
Led by a 14-point performance from Aqeel Quinn back in January, the Aztecs managed to pull out a six-point victory against the Runnin' Rebels at home. More than a month later, the Aztecs hit the road for the Thomas & Mack Center where they squeaked out a 60-58 victory thanks in part to a career-best 22-point performance by J.J. O'Brien.
Uncharacteristic to the season they'd been having at that point, the Nevada Wolf Pack managed to give the Aztecs a run for their money in their first meeting of the season at the Lawlor Events Center, where Nevada's Eric Cooper Jr. put up 17 against the nation's second-best defense in points allowed. SDSU won that game by two points. The second meeting between these two teams wouldn't be quite as close—the Aztecs, aided by the return of Polee, secured a 67-43 victory to stake their claim for half of the regular-season title.
In the end, Fisher and his team don't have much of a preference on who they play. Fisher does, however, have a preference on where they play them.
"I am a proponent of not having to play on someone's home court," Fisher said of having to play on UNLV's turf through the duration of the tournament. "The sizzle going to Las Vegas is apparent.
"That might be something that, down the road when our contract expires, we should explore to move it out of the Thomas & Mack Center."
It's worth noting the Runnin' Rebels only won 17 games this season, 12 of which came inside of the Thomas & Mack Center. One of the four losses UNLV suffered at home came at the hands of the Aztecs. If not for some clutch Aztec free throws down the stretch, things could have been different.
Assuming the Aztec defense can defang the Wolf Pack and outpace the Runnin' Rebels, they'll find themselves matched up against the No. 3-seeded Colorado State Rams or the No. 6-seeded Fresno State Bulldogs.
Regardless of whom the Aztecs may face in the semifinal round of the tournament, things start to get interesting here—real interesting.
Having lost its road matchups against both CSU and Fresno this season, the Aztecs could find themselves in deep waters before they can even begin to visualize a rematch against the Broncos in the championship game.
Still, while most Aztec fans want to see their team redeem itself after two losses to Boise, these players are privy to the dangers of forecasting outcomes and creating hypothetical scenarios.
"You always take everything game by game," O'Brien said. "You never look forward, because the game ahead of you is the most important one, like coach Fisher always says. That would be nice to see them again. I don't want to talk about any futuristic stuff, so I'll just leave it at that."
The Aztecs' journey toward the top of the mountain begins at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
