ASU just missed the AP Top 25 poll in a somewhat surprising manner.
After their multi-team event title in Las Vegas last week, the Sun Devils received the 26th-most votes at 156. But the team in the 25th spot with 161 votes was the same team ASU beat in Las Vegas, Mississippi State.
Meanwhile, Gonzaga took over the top spot and the Pac-12 was left with only Oregon in the AP Top 25 poll, after UCLA dropped out after losing to Michigan State and North Carolina.
AP voting guidelines tell us to pay attention to head-to-head results and vote based on results, not reputation or preseason speculation, and avoid regional bias.
With that in mind, I voted ASU at 23 and Mississippi State at 24. I didn't initially have ASU in at all, but dropped four teams out of the Top 25 and found ASU was the fourth most qualified to move in according to the metrics I use (record, site of games, schedule strength, power rating, etc.). I also added in Purdue, Texas Tech and Texas.
I also had a hard time wrestling between Kansas and Gonzaga for the top spot, especially considering Gonzaga's win over Duke and the fact that Kansas needed overtime to beat Tennessee, but still felt Kansas has the better overall resume to date.
Here was the ballot I submitted FWIW:
1 Kansas
2 Gonzaga
3 Duke
4 Michigan
5 Michigan State
6 Nevada
7 Tennessee
8 Virginia
9 Auburn
10 North Carolina
11 Kentucky
12 Virginia Tech
13 Kansas State
14 Iowa
15 Oregon
16 Florida State
17 Ohio State
18 Wisconsin
19 Purdue
20 Texas
21 Buffalo
22 Texas Tech
23 ASU
24 Mississippi State
25 Indiana
Bobby Hurley had a little Twitter fun after the Territorial Cup:
😸➡️😿
— Bobby Hurley (@BobbyHurley11) November 25, 2018
Arizona rated No. 33 in the new NET ratings that are designed to replace the RPI. ASU leads the Pac-12 at No. 28.
ASU's Luguentz Dort won the Pac-12 Player of the Week award, after averaging 25 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals during the Sun Devils' Main Event championship last week in Las Vegas.
UA had nominated Justin Coleman, who averaged 20.7 points and 3.0 assists over three Maui Invitational games.
Arizona's next opponent, Georgia Southern, is 5-0. The Eagles will face ETSU on Tuesday at 5 p.m. (the game will be streamed on ESPN's app for anyone who wants to watch).
UCLA is having trouble playing for 40 minutes.
Abu Kigab is finding a role with Oregon.
D'Shawn Schwartz is already proving an X-factor for Colorado.
