Bracketology 2021: Arizona State and Cincinnati highlight biggest losers
By Bryan Mauro
Arizona State Sun Devils
Is Arizona State good? That is the question that many people are asking right now. I personally had the Sun Devils as a top-three team in the Pac 12 and just outside the top 25 in my preseason rankings. Arizona State was a team that many were high on and was right there with them. Sun Devil fans have been frustrated this year because of the overall experience and talent on the roster including star freshman Josh Christopher and star point guard Remy Martin.
Arizona State did go 1-1 this last week but it was the loss to UTEP in Tempe that is going to hurt their resume the worst. Nothing against UTEP they are likely a top-tier Conference USA team and they have a star in Bryson Williams, but that is a game that an NCAA tournament team can’t lose especially at home.
Arizona State did lose the game and they were all out of sorts the entire game. The Sun Devils can get a pass for being out of sorts against a great defensive team like San Diego State. Against Grand Canyon and UTEP is a different story.
The defense by the Sun Devils is lax as they have let two of their last three opponents shoot over 45% from the field. The defense has been very suspect, the offense and shooting have been nonexistent for the large part for the Sun Devils and if it doesn’t get shored up it is going to be a long season in Tempe.
The Pac 12 has not shown well this year at all they have taken a lot of losses and the conference does not have a whole lot of quality wins. With the overall ineptitude of the league and that the league has two of the worst power schools in the country in the league.
The lack of non-conference wins for Arizona State could be devastating to their resume especially if they drop some games in the league. The Sun Devils have a ton of work to do if they want to make the tournament because right now Arizona State isn’t even an NIT team.