ASU Basketball: Non-Conference Schedule in Review
By Trevor Booth
How the Team is Built for the Pac-12 Schedule
In the first two months of the 2018-19 season, one thing has become entirely clear — the Pac-12 isn’t a power conference this year.
ESPN billed December as the worst month a major conference has had in 20 years, and they had support for that claim. In the final month of 2018, the Pac-12 finished just two games above .500 with a total record of 38-36.
The struggles for the “Conference of Champions” are nothing new. In fact, the Pac-12 was a three-bid league a year ago, and the conference went winless in the NCAA Tournament.
Experts are projecting that the Pac-12 may be a three-or-fewer bid conference this year, a safe presumption after viewing the lack of success in the non-conference season.
Though the conference has struggled as a whole, Arizona State has been the conference’s top dog. But the Sun Devils have been far from perfect.
Of the 12-member league, 10 have winning records. But every school has at least three losses.
Sitting at the top of the Pac-12 with ASU is Colorado. Though the Buffaloes also hold a 9-3 record, they haven’t faced one opponent from a major conference in their first 12 games, which could set them up poorly for conference play. We will see on Jan. 5 when the three-loss squads square off.
Behind those two are a few squads that haven’t lived up to expectations in the young season: Oregon, Arizona and Washington. Each of those teams have four losses heading into conference play.
In ASU’s 20-game Pac-12 schedule, the Sun Devils face every team twice — except for the Washington schools.
Next. ASU Basketball: What we learned in yesterday’s upset defeat to Princeton. dark
Because of a so-so league, the margin of error shrinks for Arizona State. The Sun Devils can’t afford to drop games to mediocre opponents, or else it could hurt them come Selection Sunday (if ASU doesn’t win the Pac-12 Tournament).