NCAA Basketball: Top 16 breakdown, belief in Maryland, and more weekly takeaways
By Brian Rauf
8) Arizona State, Pac-12 contender
Each of the last two years, Arizona State made the NCAA Tournament thanks to stellar play in the non-conference, which was followed by less-than-stellar performances in Pac-12 play.
This season, the Sun Devils may have flipped the script and could back into a tournament bid thanks to their play in conference.
Head coach Bobby Hurley’s squad has now won five of their last six games after beating USC at home on Saturday, also having knocked off Arizona and Washington during this stretch. They’ve boosted their record to 3-6 in Quad 1 games, putting them at 7-8 in Quads 1 & 2 without a loss to a Quad 3 or Quad 4 team.
There’s reason to think Arizona State can keep this going, too. They have a defense that ranks in the top 25 nationally in efficiency and an offense that, while hot and cold, is capable of exploding (three games with at least 80 points in their last six games), has a number of shooters, and is led by an All-Pac-12 performer in Remy Martin.
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The Sun Devils will be tested twice in their next three games with a road trip against Stanford coming on Thursday and a home matchup against Oregon on Feb. 20.
Currently, Arizona State is only 1.5 games behind Colorado for first in the conference (unfortunately, they don’t play the Buffs again this season). If they win both of those games, that gap may close – and they will lock up an NCAA Tournament berth in the process.