The chatter surrounding Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley is only going to grow louder and more distracting in the coming weeks. ASU is currently unlikely to make the 2023 NCAA Tournament, in which case Hurley might look elsewhere for a reset in his coaching career.
However, speculation can wait a little bit. Hurley is still coaching Arizona State, and if he wants to have any chance of making a late run to the tournament, he and his Sun Devils need to beat Utah this coming Saturday in Tempe.
Arizona State endured an atrocious loss to Colorado on Thursday. The opponent was mediocre. Losing to Colorado will drag down ASU’s already-average resume even more. The way in which ASU lost was also brutal. The Devils were up six with just under six minutes left. They allowed a 17-3 run to CU down the stretch.
What is bad news for ASU is great news for USC, which knows that either the Sun Devils or Utah will lose another game on Saturday.
The Trojans are watching each of their Pac-12 bubble competitors fade away. With ASU and Utah both losing on Thursday, the importance of this Saturday meeting becomes that much greater … and not in terms of lifting the winner into the NCAA Tournament.
Because of ASU’s and Utah’s recent losses, this game is more of a “loser out” game than a “winner in” game. The winner merely stays afloat in the bubble picture. The loser falls even lower on the bubble.
If ASU loses here against Utah, the Sun Devils probably won’t be able to get into the NCAA Tournament if they split a pair of upcoming games against Arizona and UCLA, both on the road. They would probably need to win both. Winning one would be an absolute necessity, of course. ASU would need to win at least three games, probably four.
If ASU beats Utah, it can probably still split the Arizona-UCLA pair and get in with a win over USC in early March plus one win at the Pac-12 Tournament.
As for Utah, a loss to ASU would mean the Utes would have to sweep UCLA and USC next week to have a realistic chance of making the NCAA Tournament. Losing at home to Stanford a few weeks ago severely limited this team’s margin for error.
If Utah beats Arizona State, the Utes would still need to beat UCLA, but they might be able to lose to USC and not suffer severe consequences. They would have to collect a few more wins before Selection Sunday.
As for USC, the task is simple: Beat Stanford on Saturday. If the Trojans do that, they know they are guaranteed to gain more ground on the Utah-Arizona State loser. They won’t lose ground on the Utah-ASU winner.
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