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The last time ASU went to the NCAA Tournament, they had two NBA players on the roster: James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph (now known as Jeff Ayres). With two likely NBA players on their roster in 2014 (Jahii Carson and Jordan Bachynski), can they make the same push into March Madness?
Here's the full ASU breakdown, with all information from CBS Sports:
Overall Record = 18-6
Pac-12 Record = 7-4 (3rd place)
Home Record = 13-1
Away Record = 4-3
Neutral Record = 1-2
Top 50 Record = 2-4
RPI = 40
SOS = 77
Signature Wins (RPI 1-30) = Colorado (24)
Quality Wins (RPI 31-100) = Oregon (42), @ California (51), Marquette (88), Oregon State (89)
Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = Miami (FL) (112)
Bracketology experts have taken notice of the Sun Devils, and Herb Sendek's team is now projected to be in the NCAA Tournament by ESPN, CBS, USA Today and SB Nation.
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports' resident bracketology expert, placed ASU in the South regional as an 11 seed, facing off against the Connecticut Huskies of the American Athletic Conference in the first round. According to Palm, the Sun Devils are still on the bubble and have a lot of work to do to stay in the bracket.
Joe Lunardi, ESPN's guru, thinks ASU is in a better position, and has projected the Sun Devils to be a 10 seed in the South, slated to compete against Gonzaga out of the West Coast Conference. The winner of the ASU/Gonzaga matchup would likely earn a second round date against Kansas, the #1 team based on RPI in the land.
Shelby Mast of USA Today projects the Sun Devils as an 11 seed in the East, taking on the defending national champion Louisville Cardinals.
Finally, Chris Dobbertean of SB Nation has the Sun Devils in the West as a 10 seed, also against UConn. Whoever wins that game would likely challenge Villanova in the secound round.
At 18-6, the Sun Devils need to win 23 games to comfortably make the NCAA Tournament. With seven regular season games left and the Pac-12 Tournament, this is a very attainable goal. If ASU can avoid a bad loss (Utah and Oregon State losses would be considered bad) they should be in very good shape on Selection Sunday.