The San Diego State Aztecs’ 2013 season ended with a loss to the Florida Gulf-Coast Eagles Sunday, marking the first time in NCAA basketball history that a 15-seed team has made it to the Sweet Sixteen round.
Despite the fact that the Eagles defeated No. 2 seed Georgetown a few days earlier and beat another No. 2 seed, Miami, earlier in the season, San Diego State was favored to win and looked to be in control before a 17-0 run by the underdog in the second half.
While the sporting world falls in love with the Eagles, the Aztecs are being openly criticized for yet another postseason failure. Sports fans in San Diego have become accustomed to late season or postseason collapses, which is why Forbes ranked San Diego as the 5th most miserable sports city.
The San Diego Chargers have become well-known for their postseason blunders — from Marlon McCree’s fumble of an interception to Nate Kaeding’s missed field goals — and were thoroughly embarrassed when they made it to the Super Bowl in 1994.
The San Diego Padres have made it to the World Series twice, and racked up a 1-8 record on the big stage. Since moving to Petco Park, the team has bounced between being basement-dwellers in the division, to narrowly missing the playoffs to getting trounced once they get to the playoffs.
The Aztecs still represent some sort of hope. Their fans aren’t yet plagued by the same resignation to late-season or postseason failure that haunts fans of the San Diego’s pro teams. But a few more losses to teams like Florida Gulf Coast with the weight of the sports world watching could change all that.
John Gennaro is a contributor to Voice of San Diego. Follow him on Twitter @jmglion or email johnmgennaro@gmail.com.