Getty Image / Wesley Hitt
Over the past week, we’ve watched the entire college basketball world fight to punch their tickets to March Madness.
While the number of teams who still have hopes of an NCAA Tournament appearance has dwindled, there is one team that has been eliminated from their conference tournament and isn’t in the March Madness picture who could have a lot to look forward to this postseason.
San Jose State was the biggest surprise in a strong Mountain West this year.
Heading into the season, they were picked to finish 2nd to last in the conference after winning just 1 game in conference last year.
The Spartans were a whole lot more successful this year. They went 10-8 in the Mountain West, earning the 5-seed in the Mountain West Tournament. It was their best finish ever and they took full advantage.
The Spartans took on Nevada in the quarterfinals and beat the Wolfpack to earn their first Mountain West Tournament win and their first win in any conference tournament since 2011.
That win should give them a chance to end a much longer drought.
The Spartans basketball program has existed since the 1909-1910 college basketball season and has never won a postseason game.
San Jose State has never won a postseason game in its century-plus lifespan.
Well, what're the chances they end this abomination in the NIT this season?
A thread looking into it (part 2) …
— matt weiner (@mattweiner20) March 2, 2023
Their win over Nevada should be exactly what they needed to guarantee themselves a spot in the NIT.
Over the course of their Mountain West schedule, they proved that they can compete with teams at the same level as the ones they’d run into in the NIT. They claimed wins over Boise State, Utah State, and a pair against UNLV before that upset win over Nevada.
If there was ever a year that San Jose State was finally going to end their postseason winless streak, this would be the year.