San Diego has never been considered a city for basketball, but with the four San Diego teams that made it into March Madness that may change. University of San Diego and San Diego State both sent their men’s and women’s teams to the post-season tournament. They were the only city in the country to do this.
The University of San Diego has recently moved to Division 1 this year. They had to enter a four-year reclassification period where they couldn’t play in Division 1. Many people were unaware that this was their first year in Division 1, which makes their appearance in March Madness so much more exciting. They won the Big West Conference title and got an automatic bid to the tournament.
UCSD entered off of a 15-win game streak and 30 overall wins. Senior guard/forward Aniwaniwa Tait- Jones was named the Big West Player of the Year, Head Coach Eric Olin was named Big West Coach of the year, and Hayden Gray Big West Best Defensive Player. They entered the post season coming off a successful regular season and had drive and hope for playoffs and the growing future of their program.
UCSD faced off in the first round against a dominant Michigan team who was ranked 14th overall. They had a rough start and missed their first 6 shorts and found themselves down 10 points early in the game. They entered halftime down 27-41.
Coming out of halftime they went on a 9-0 scoring run, and were able to out score the Wolverines in the second half. They took the lead of 65-63 with 2:29 left in the game. The Wolverines were not finished though and sank a three pointer making the score 66-65. The Tritons were unable to get a last score and lost 68-65 in the first round.
UCSD’s women’s team had a similar finish, and punched their ticket to the First Four round, four single elimination games that trimmed the teams down from 68 to 64, by winning the Big West. They ultimately lost 68-56 against Southern U.
UCSD is not the only San Diego school who had a basketball playoff berth this year. San Diego State men’s team has been dominant over the past few years and made it to the National championship in 2023, and the sweet 16 in 2024, but lost to UConn both times.
This year they earned an at- large bid after failing to win the Mountain West conference and began their 5th consecutive March Madness appearance. They then faced off against UNC in the first four round and lost 68-95.
Their women’s team got an automatic bid by winning the Mountain West conference and faced off against LSU in the first round. They took a tough loss with a final score of 48-103.
With no San Diego teams left, the tournament also has no Cinderella stories. Senior basketball player Patrick O’Brien explained he was “ rooting for UCSD [over SDSU] because they would’ve made a great Cinderella story, and SDSU has already had success in the past.”
He found their ability to win their conference and make it to the post-season tournament in their first year of being a Division- I team very inspirational. He explains that seeing these San Diego athletes find success and play at the March Madness level is motivating because he hopes to play at that same level.
He hopes that an increase in success across men’s college basketball in San Diego continues to grow the sport here, and has already noticed more fans at the games and talk about them.
The rest of March Madness has been very predictable. All of the ones seeds made it to the round of 16, as did most of the highest seeds. All of the remaining teams are from a major conference and 7/16 of them are from the SEC.
With so many good teams remaining it is certain that there will be some tight games on the road to the championship. The Sweet 16 and Elite Eight took place from March 27-30th, and the Final Four is this weekend.
Many had taken the top teams Duke, Auburn, Florida, or Houston to win their brackets, which they did. As March Madness comes to an end, these elite teams should make for exciting match-ups.
