Grab your pitchforks, ASU fans, the Associated Press still isn't convinced the Sun Devils are a Top 25 team.
Despite two back-to-back Quad 1 victories over New Mexico and St. Mary's, resulting in the team lifting the Acrisure Classic trophy last week, ASU did not land among the sport's Top 25 teams.
The Sun Devils weren't completely ignored, however, they still received a significant amount of votes (89 to be exact) which places them at roughly the No. 30 spot.
It's tough to figure out why ASU was omitted from the rankings altogether, especially with former No. 2 and defending back-to-back national champion UConn lossing three consecutive games in the span of 72 hours last week. The Huskies still managed to cling to the No. 25 ranking with a 5-3 record.
It's also clear some brand-bias is present in the latest AP poll with North Carolina (4-3) still sitting at No. 20 and Houston (4-3) at No. 17 despite some bad recent losses.
ASU's only loss this year to date was to a then-ranked No. 3 Gonzaga squad (and by only eight points, mind you) and despite the Bulldogs slipping to No. 7 in this week's poll, that's still a pretty impressive resume.
The NCAA also has ASU at No. 33 in the all-important NET rankings, that's higher than AP-ranked No. 21 Oklahoma (7-0, No. 37 NET), No. 25 UConn (5-3, No. 39 NET), No. 22 Texas A&M (6-2, No. 43 NET), No. 23 Ole Miss (6-1, No. 55 NET) and No. 24 San Diego State (4-2, No. 60 NET).
ASU handed excellent bulletin board material with yet another Top 25 snub
The Sun Devils should take today's poll and pin it front and center in the team meeting room and the locker room for some extra motivation. Especially with such a crucial stretch of schedule upcoming prior to Big 12 play starting.
ASU has two very winnable games against San Diego (Dec. 3) and UMass (Dec. 21) but it's the neutral-ground faceoff with No. 13 Florida in Atlanta, Georgia (Dec. 14) that will draw all the attention.
If the team handles business against all three, there's little the AP voters can do to ignore a would-be 10-1 Sun Devil squad entering the holiday break.