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Things keep getting worse and worse for the Arizona State basketball team. At 20-10, there is very little hope for the Devils to make the NCAA Tournament, barring a huge run in the Pac-12 Tournament. ASU lost two heartbreakers on the road to UCLA and USC, games that were absolutely necessary for the Sun Devils to win if they wanted to have a shot on Selection Sunday.
The RPI took another hit this past weekend, dropping 7 points down to 94. As a point of reference, most benchmarks indicate that an RPI of 75 is the highest you can go without being removed entirely from consideration for the bracket.
I've said all season that 24 wins is the requirement for ASU to make the Big Dance. That can still be achieved in two ways: beating Arizona and winning 3 games in the Pac-12 Tournament, or running the table and getting an auto-bid. Those are the only two options, folks.
Without further ado, your RPI update for March 4, thanks to the information from CBS Sports:
Overall Record = 20-10
Pac-12 Record = 9-8
Home Record = 15-4
Away Record = 4-5
Neutral Record = 1-1
Top 50 Record = 4-4
RPI = 94
SOS = 121
Signature Wins (RPI 1-30) = Colorado (27), @ Colorado (27)
Quality Wins (RPI 31-100) = UCLA (30), California (43), Arkansas (80), USC (89)
Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = @ Utah (186), DePaul (196)
Quick Analysis: 2 wins in their last 7 games. The Sun Devils are on the outside looking in.
Next up for the Sun Devils: The season finishes in Tucson against Arizona, who have also hit some rough times lately. Defeating the Wildcats is the most important first step for the Devils to launch a late-season renaissance.