JP Wants to Dance, Will the Schedule Help?
March Madness was made for guys like Jeff Pendergraph. But was ASU’s recently-released schedule made for getting there?
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The ASU men’s basketball team releases its schedule yesterday. The conference schedule is the same as always, and the non-conference slate is posted below. We’ll warn you, though, that it doesn’t look a whole lot different from last year.
The Anaheim Classic replaces the Maui Invitational, and BYU steps in for Xavier. We’re hoping Anaheim entrants Charlotte, Baylor/Providence and TBD turn out to be a lot better this season than Maui opponents Illinois, Louisiana State and Princeton were last season. And we’re stoked to see Mesa High star Lee Cummard return to the Valley with BYU.
However, with the Pac-10 unlikely to duplicate its incredible season from a year ago, our strength of schedule could be a concern heading into March. Clearly, it’ll take some time for the schedule to receive a full upgrade—these things aren’t put together overnight or even in a single offseason.
And we must remember that, while teams like IUPUI and Charlotte lack marquee value, they typically put together very competitive seasons.
The players have made it clear that their goal is to not let acronyms like RPI or SOS determine their worthiness of tournament play this year. Derek Glasser told us recently that the team plans to be fighting for a third to seventh seed rather than the last 14th seed this season.
We hope he’s right, because guys like Jeff Pendergraph deserve a taste of the NCAA Tournament.
| Date | Opponent | Location |
| 11/14/08 | vs. Mississippi Valley State | Tempe, Ariz. |
| 11/18/08 | at San Diego State | San Diego, Calif. |
| 11/23/08 | vs. Pepperdine | Tempe, Ariz. |
| 11/27/08 | vs. Charlotte | Anaheim, Calif. |
| 11/28/08 | Baylor/Providence | Anaheim, Calif. |
| 11/30/08 | TBD | Anaheim, Calif. |
| 12/04/08 | vs. Jackson State | Tempe, Ariz. |
| 12/07/08 | vs. Nebraska | Tempe, Ariz. |
| 12/14/08 | vs. IUPUI | Phoenix, Ariz. |
| 12/20/08 | vs. BYU | Glendale. Ariz. |
| 12/23/08 | vs. Idaho State | Tempe, Ariz. |
| 12/29/08 | Central Connecticut State | Tempe, Ariz. |
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It’s not a breathtaking schedule, I’ll admit. Still, if ASU can improve on last season’s record, which they should, they should be able to make it to the Dance. Hopefully they can also duplicate last year’s sweep of the ‘Cats.
I love Sun Devils sports just as much as anyone else, but a 3 seed in the tourney next year might be a little high. I’m glad D. Glasser is very optimistic about our team. I hope it becomes reality.
I’d love to see ASU in some marquee match ups during the non-conference. BYU and Baylor are nice tests, but I’d like to see our boys on the road vs. a top-tier team in a jam packed arena. Let’s take them out of their element and show them what it will be like if and when they go dancing.
ASU still wins if they lose; they gain the experience of playing in a hostile environment, grow as players and as a team (not to mention their RPI won’t suffer that much if it is a true top team)
Well at least we have the conference games to look forward to. I am keeping my dancin’ shoes nearby just in case!
I heard they tried to schedule a neutral court game against Georgetown, but couldn’t make it work. That would’ve been pretty sweet.
If we don’t get tickets to the off-campus IUPUI and BYU games with our season packs, I’ll be sad.
This is a pretty nice schedule. I mean if we want wins. But its not going to do much to help us get in the tournament. Baylor would be a nice match-up. They made a run to the tourney last year, granted they were blown out in the 1st round, but they will be a strong team in the Big 12. Other than BYU I dont see much else helping us. We better win all of these.