San Diego State Basketball: Dick Vitale puts Aztecs at No. 17 in his preseason rankings

ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale ranked the San Diego State Aztecs at No. 17 in his 2014-15 preseason rankings.

Vitale ranks the Aztecs ahead of teams like perennial powerhouse Michigan St., Ohio St and Pittsburgh, and he tabs Kentucky as his preseason No. 1.

In his analysis, Vitale cites head coach Steve Fisher's masterful work with the program as a big reason for SDSU's high ranking.

Don't forget about junior guard Winston Shepard, though. Vitale notes that Shepard "keeps the Aztecs rolling," something that has been reiterated by several analysts and publications. Sporting News put Shepard on their preseason All-MW team, and Athlon sports predicted him to be the MW Player of the Year--even putting him on the cover of their magazine.

Even with the presence of Dwayne Polee II, who really came onto the scene last season --setting a career high in points per game--it seems like most analysts have Shepard tabbed as the face of this team, besides Fisher of course.

Based off the seemingly never-ending amount of preseason rankings that keep coming out, it looks like the Aztecs are headed for a ranking somewhere between 10 and 20 in the AP/coaches poll.  Sporting News had the Aztecs at No. 16 and Athlon Sports had them at No. 13.

Either way, when Dick Vitale is showing SDSU some love, "you gotta love it, baby!"