After a miserable homestand against the Washington schools, the Sun Devils' ranking has dropped to 23. Lunardi puts the Devils as an 8 seed in the South bracket. Here's a look at how they would fare.
The first round match up is against a tough, tough Boston College team. Boston College is currently 17-6 and 5-3 in the ACC. After upsetting the then number 1 ranked UNC Tarheels, BC lost 4 straight to Harvard, Miami, WF, and Virginia Tech. The Eagles have bounced back nicely from that rut to pick up some quality wins against Georgia Tech, NC State, Maryland, and Virginia Tech. Any team coming out of the ACC is going to be tried and tested throughout the season. BC is a decent FG shooting team(45%) but struggles from behind the arc(34%) and at the charity stripe(71%). Many NCAA tournament games come down to free throws. Unfortunately for ASU, we don't shoot much better(74%). Looks like a quick UA-like exit for the Devils with this match up. But don't worry, the Eagles will have to go on to face the Oklahoma Sooners, where their run will end.
Here's hoping for a better matchup next week (which is only possible with 2 wins in Oregon). GO DEVILS!