BOISE, Idaho — Last Friday, San Diego State notched the biggest hoops victory in the 24-year history of the Mountain West Conference. The Aztecs dethroned No. 1 Alabama 71-64 to earn the conference's first NCAA Tournament Elite 8 appearance.
It took only two days for San Diego State to outdo itself again, taking down Creighton 57-56 on Sunday to advance to the Final Four for the first time in program history.
"Here we are, we're making the next step and it's something we've always talked about, and I'm sure there were people doubting we could do it, but we never doubted for a minute," Aztec head coach Brian Dutcher said. "Not to say it's easy to get there or that we would ever get there, but we're there now, and we're gonna go and try to win the thing."
Another San Diego State victory means more money for Mountain West schools. With the Aztecs' upcoming showdown against Florida Atlantic – and appearances in the big dance from Boise State, Utah State and Nevada – teams from the league will play at least eight games in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Each game in March Madness is worth a unit, and each unit is worth roughly $342,000. Eight units adds up to more than $2.73 million.
When you divide the total amount among the 11 Mountain West Conference members, each school stands to receive about $249,000 per year for the next six years for the 2023 tournament alone.
In total, Boise State and the 10 other schools will make about $1.49 million each over the next six years. 62% of that total is directly attributed to San Diego State's historic run.
The Final Four is set for Saturday, April 1, on CBS. San Diego State and FAU square off at 4:09 p.m. MT, followed by Miami vs. UConn at 6:49 p.m. MT.
Notable: Boise State, Nevada and New Mexico are the only three teams to defeat San Diego State since the start of 2023. The Aztecs are 31-6 overall and 14-1 since Feb. 3.
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