ASU Men’s Basketball: Sun Devils play themselves onto the bubble

(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)

(Photo: Brady Klain/WCSN)

LAS VEGAS — Just over two months ago, ASU men’s basketball was one win away from being ranked No. 1 in the AP poll, riding a wave of unprecedented confidence. After dropping the opening game of the Pac-12 tournament to Colorado on Wednesday, the Sun Devils (20-11) are engulfed by an aura of uncertainty.

This team sits squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble according to most experts. That seemed impossible after its road victory over Kansas in December — a game that captured the country’s attention.

Now, somehow, the national conversation will include a debate of ASU’s worthiness. Do the Sun Devils deserve a tournament bid? Does the stellar non-conference stretch counteract a putrid Pac-12 performance?

Bobby Hurley would answer yes to both questions.

“I feel like we were in the tournament coming into this game regardless of the outcome,” Hurley said. “We were the last undefeated team in college basketball. We went and played high-level opponents on the road and on neutrals. We beat two regular season conference champions and most likely No. 1 seeds in the NCAA tournament.”

It’s clear how Hurley feels, but will the committee share his view? The Sun Devils limped to the finish in a weak Pac-12 and dropped to 65^th in the RPI after Wednesday’s loss. Four of their final five losses came to teams that likely won’t be going dancing. In the end, their tournament hopes might depend on how other conference tournaments shake out.

Hurley would be the first to say that it shouldn’t have come down to this, but it did. ASU dug itself into a hole by playing bad basketball. Its weaknesses were continually exposed and its hot start seemed more like a fever dream as the weeks passed by.

“We felt like we were fighting an uphill battle in league play with some early losses,” Hurley said. “Then just trying to get back over the hump.”

From a neutral perspective, ASU’s conference collapse was more of a downward slide than an upward crawl. It’s Hurley’s job to advocate for his team and fight on their behalf, and he’s not wrong in doing so, but at a certain point some of these arguments start to sound like excuses.

Close losses are still losses. The Sun Devils shouldn’t have finished with 11 of them, even if 10 were by single digits. Whether they think it’s fair or not, their conference record is going to make it tough to get into the field of 68.

If ASU does get in, it would make sense that Hurley’s team would be slotted in one of the First Four games — an extra test by the selection committee for the Sun Devils to prove their mettle. Bubble teams from relatively weak conferences tend to end up there.

The NIT is the only other plausible option for the Sun Devils if they don’t make the Big Dance. They’d probably be a top seed in that tournament, hosting a few games at Wells Fargo Arena.

It’s a weird thing for Hurley and company to potentially settle for, especially after a thrilling, program-altering start to the season. A berth in the NIT doesn’t feel like a worthy prize for the effort of these seniors.

But maybe the rewards of this season won’t be reaped until years down the line. If nothing else, the 2017-18 Sun Devils can say they laid the groundwork.