Big road swing this weekend

[Gaddabout]

ASU plays @ Cal on Thursday and @ Stanford on Saturday. Neither team looks very strong, but those are always difficult places to play on the road. Especially Cal.

Every conference win ASU gets on the road is gravy and a double plus on their NCAA resume. I think these two are pretty important, because they come back for a two-game home stand against the Washington schools then visit the LA schools. They need to at least split on the road here, protect home vs. the Washington schools, and they can afford to split on the road in LA.

Lose both this week and ASU moves back to a bubble team I think with a horrible SOS rating. They need to hit the 22-win mark with the SOS rating, I think. Twenty wins won't do it for them.

 

[TheKid_1]

I dunno about needing 22 wins to make the tourney. That would require a 12-6 pac 10 record...I think 9-9 probably puts us in the tourney so long as they don't loose to OSU and at least split with Cal and UW. 10-8 in conference this year is a tourney lock for this team.

 

[Gaddabout]

I dunno about needing 22 wins to make the tourney. That would require a 12-6 pac 10 record...I think 9-9 probably puts us in the tourney so long as they don't loose to OSU and at least split with Cal and UW. 10-8 in conference this year is a tourney lock for this team.

If 9-9 includes road wins at UCLA and, say, Arizona at the end of the season when they should be strong, that would be impressive. If 9-9 just means taking care of home court and beating the weak teams on the road ... then you're begging for a committee to make a judgment call on a program that has no recent history of tournament success or a fan base that travels. I think 9-9 in conference means ASU will most likely be hosting an NIT game or two.

 

[TheKid_1]

I see what your saying but look at it like this. Assume we beat OSU (again), split with cal and UW. That leaves us at 16-2. In order to have finished 19-11, that would mean we would have had 3 wins against (Oregon, WSU, UCLA, USC, UA, or Stanford). Unless it was another win against UO and 2 against Stanford I think this gets us in, any combo you could make. That would be at least 4 quality wins (Xavier, UA/UO, and the three above). However, if my first premise is wrong and we sweep Cal, UW, and OSU and pick up one more win against say UO or USC or something then I agree we don't get in.

 

[ajcardfan]

I have to agree 9-9 would be a bit dicey for ASU making the tournament, with the odds against it. The RPI is just real weak. I think ASU is kind of where Texas A&M was thre years ago. They were a bubble team that had been awful for many years, and were .500 in the Big 12. They made the NIT, won a couple of games. Then, the last two years they made the NCAAs and advanced, gradually strengthening their schedule each year. This year, they are top 10 right now. It's hard to imagine ASU outaccelrating that kind of trajectory. Unless, guy or two like Shipp all of the sudden really elevate their play.


Don't forget the PAC 10 tourney though. That will probably give the Devils a chance to play their way in or out IMO.