Bracketology 2023: Louisville, Oregon among first week’s biggest losers

4. Arizona State Sun Devils

It should’ve been an easy week for Arizona State, who had a trio of opponents projected to finish in the bottom 100 of the country. But it started out in a near-disaster, struggling to get away from Tarleton State before winning by just a couple of points. After beating Northern Arizona, the Sun Devils played at Texas Southern and lost in overtime. While the Tigers have historically been a thorn in power conference teams’ sides, they’re still a likely Quad 4 loss.

What makes matters worse, ASU simply hasn’t looked good and Marcus Bagley just can’t stay healthy. They now go to the Legends Classic, where they face VCU and either Michigan or Pittsburgh. If they go 0-2 in that event, their at-large hopes will be in real trouble.

3. Florida State Seminoles

Throughout the preseason, it’s been a matter of a leaky pipe of player absences that the Seminoles have had to deal with. Brown transfer Jaylan Gainey is out for the year with an injury, while top-50 freshman forward Baba Miller is suspended for half the year by the NCAA for a violation regarding receiving payments. And now, 7’4 center Naheem McLeod is out for weeks after getting hurt in the first game.

That has depleted the depth for FSU inside and the results have been a disaster, starting out 0-2 with losses to both Stetson and at Central Florida. And the backcourt hasn’t been much better. This was a candidate to bounce back but the early losses have put them in a deep hole. And with a home game against Florida coming up this week, odds are good they’ll be 1-3 to start the season.