San Diego State will be playing the Oklahoma Sooners this Friday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be played in Philadelphia and tip-off at 6:20 p.m. PST on TBS. CBS Sports recruiting blogger Jeff Borzello has come out with his top 68 teams competing in the NCAA Tournament San Diego State came in 26th place and Oklahoma came in 49th place. Both San Diego State and Oklahoma ended the season on a skid winning just two of their last five games. All of the teams that San Diego State has lost to are going to be playing in March six of which will be playing in March Madness. All of the teams but two that have beaten Oklahoma will be playing in March Madness. You will be able to read about the teams who have beaten both San Diego State and Oklahoma.

San Diego State has a ton of history playing against the head coach of Oklahoma as Lon Kruger was the head coach of University Nevada Las Vegas also known as UNLV from 2004 to 2011. As the head coach of UNLV Kruger took the Rebels to four NCAA tournament births including a trip to the sweet sixteen in 2007. San Diego State’s Steve Fisher holds the advantage over Kruger with a winning record 13-5 when Kruger coached at UNLV. San Diego State has been one of the best teams in the nation this year and one of the most inconsistent teams in the nation this season. The Aztecs are still trying to improve with shooting from the floor and behind the arc. The Aztecs are shooting 43.8% from the floor and 32.4% from behind the arc. This team has a plethora of shooters and can blow out teams when they are shooting their best as they did against Arkansas Pine Bluff, UCLA, UCSB, first half of the Colorado State game, Nevada (both games), New Mexico and Fresno State game and the game against Wyoming (shot 68.2%). The Aztecs need major improvement in the free throw game but have improved their free throw shooting average to 67.6%. The Aztecs have also been working harder this season on offensive and defensive rebounds. Rebounding is the number one weakness of San Diego State. This season this Aztecs are only out rebounding teams on average by two to three rebounds per game 36.8 to 33.4.

Expert Picks:

Nate Silver (New York Times): San Diego State has a 56.1% chance to beat Oklahoma.

Braden Gall (Athlon Sports) : “I love San Diego State. Veteran backcourt. OU well coached but I have SDSU in S-16. And give me Temple every time.”

Dari Nowkhah (ESPN): Oklahoma will win.

Mike Rutherford (SB Nation): Oklahoma will win.

Seth Davis (CBSSports): SDSU will win.

SDSU is a (TWO) 2 point favorite over Oklahoma -via Vegas Odd Makers. 

Keys for Victory:

Aztecs:

1) Shoot more than 45% from the floor!

2) Point’s in the paint!

2) Only shoot 3-point shot’s that are open!

3) Limit turnovers!

4) Attack the offensive boards. If the Aztecs start missing shots like they normally do the offensive rebounds are going to win or lose the game for SDSU!

Oklahoma

1) Force SDSU to shoot from the perimeter.

2) Force SDSU to commit turnovers.

3) Win the defensive battle of the boards.

4) Lock down Jamaal Franklin.

5) Try and get SDSU to foul out.

Players to watch for San Diego State:

Jamaal Franklin (6-5 and 205 pound Senior): Franklin is currently leading the Aztecs in points per game averaging 16.7 points, currently leading the Aztecs in rebounds per game with  9.5 and leading the Aztecs in assists per game with1.2.

Chase Tapley (6-3 and 195 pound Senior): Tapley is currently in second place on the Aztecs in points per game averaging 13.5 points, has 3.2 rebounds per game and is in second place on the Aztecs in assists with 2.8 per game.

Xavier Thames (6-3 and 190 pound Junior): Thames is currently in third place on the Aztecs in points per game averaging 9.8 points, has 2.6 rebounds per game and is in third place on the Aztecs in assists with 2.2 per game.

San Diego State Losses:

NCAA Tournament Bound Teams

Syracuse (4th seed in the East)

Arizona (6th seed in the West)

UNLV X 2 (5th seed in the East)

Colorado State (8th seed in the MidWest)

New Mexico X 2 (3rd seed in the West)

Boise State (1st Round)

CBI:

Wyoming (CBI)

CIT Tournament 

Air Force Academy

Players to watch for Oklahoma:

Romero Osby (6-8 and 232 pound Senior): Osby is currently leading the Sooners in points per game averaging 15.8 points, currently leading the Sooners in rebounds per game with  seven and 1.2 assists per game.

Steven Pledger (6-4 and 219 pound Senior): Pledger is currently in second place in points per game averaging 11.8, 3.3 rebounds per game and 1.5 assists per game.

Amath M’Baye (6-9 and 208 pound Junior): M’Baye is currently in third place in points per game averaging 10.8 points, currently in second place with 5.2 rebounds per game and 0.7 assists per game.

Oklahoma Losses:

NCAA Tournament Bound Teams

Gonzaga (1st seed in the West)

Oklahoma State (5th seed in the Mid West)

Kansas State X2 (4th seed in the West)

Kansas (1st seed in the South)

Oklahoma State (5th seed in the MidWest)

Iowa State X2 (10th seed in the West)

NIT

Steven F. Austin (5th Seed NIT)

CBI

Texas (CBI)

Not playing in the post season:

Arkansas

TCU

San Diego State and Oklahoma Rosters 

Name	Height	Team	Name	Height	Team
Winston Shepard	6-8	SDSU	Casey Arent	6-10	OU
Matt Shrigley	6-5	SDSU	D.J. Bennett	6-8	OU
Skylar Spencer	6-9	SDSU	Cameron Clark	6-6	OU
JJ O’Brien	6-7	SDSU	Isaiah Cousins	6-3	OU
Dwayne Polee II	6-7	SDSU	J.C. Cole	6-6	OU
DeShawn Stephens	6-8	SDSU	James Fraschilla	5-10	OU
Jamaal Franklin	6-5	SDSU	Sam Grooms	6-1	OU
Chase Tapley	6-3	SDSU	Buddy Hield	6-3	OU
James Rahon	6-5	SDSU	Je’lon Hornbeak	6-3	OU
Xavier Thames	6-3	SDSU	Amath M’Baye	6-9	OU
Jeremy Castleberry	5-11	SDSU	Tyler Neal	6-7	OU
James Johnson	6-10	SDSU	Steve Noworyta	6-7	OU
Narbeh Ebrahimian	6-3	SDSU	Romero Osby	6-8	OU
Aaron Douglas	6-1	SDSU	Steven Pledger	6-4	OU
Ryan Staten	6-1	SDSU	Ryan Spangler	6-8	OU

Thank you for visiting our site!

Make sure you are following @SanDiego_Sports on twitter and San Diego Sports Domination on Facebook for updates and information about San Diego State and other San Diego sports. If you would like to chat with the editors and writers of San Diego Sports Domination while on the website please click here! http://barc.com/u/https://sandiegosportsdomination.com/