Unless ASU loses in the Pac-12 Tournament, or somebody else puts together an outstanding conference record, the Pac-12 might have trouble getting any at-large NCAA Tournament bids in March.
That's the way it has appeared in the league's play lately... and now that's the way it appears in the updated NET ranking, which has ASU at 31, Washington at No. 56, UCLA at 61 and Arizona at 64.
Kenpom has ASU at 43, UA at 57 and everybody else after that.
Oddly, the Sagarin rankings have UA listed at 40 and ASU at 41.
ASU moved up from No. 18 to No. 17 in the Associated Press Top 25, after losing at Vanderbilt but beating then-No. 1 Kansas on Saturday. Kansas dropped to No. 5.
Here's how I voted FWIW:
1 Duke
2 Michigan
3 Kansas
4 Tennessee
5 Virginia
6 Nevada
7 Gonzaga
8 Michigan State
9 Florida State
10 Ohio State
11 Wisconsin
12 Kentucky
13 North Carolina
14 Auburn
15 Texas Tech
16 virginia tech
17 ASU
18 Mississippi State
19 NC State
20 Kansas State
21 Iowa
22 Nebraska
23 Marquette
24 Houston
25 Buffalo
Larry Fitzgerald gave Phoenix-based AP reporter Bob Baum a retirement gift Sunday after covering his last Cardinals game. Well-respected and funny, Baum also covers many UA basketball home games. He's expected to retire in February.
Β Β