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Sun Devil Men's Hoops No. 18 in AP Preseason Poll; Typical Bobby Hurley Scheduling Will Open vs. No. 2 Baylor

by thesundevils.com
Nov 9, 2020
Freshman Taeshon Cherry helped ASU beat No. 1 Kansas on Dec. 22, 2018.

Schedule Announcement From Empire Classic | Sun Devil Men's Basketball All-Time AP Rankings | Sun Devil Men's Hoops Opening Game Notes/History | Sun Devil Men's Basketball Wins Over Ranked Opponents | Sun Devil Men's Basketball Neutral Site Regular Season Games

Something new (but hopefully a regular occurrence now) and something old (yawn, Coach Hurley is scheduling hard early) happened on Monday with the Sun Devil men's basketball program.

The Sun Devils are ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press preseason poll, marking just the second time in past 29 seasons and fifth overall for the program to be ranked.

ASU has been ranked in the Associated Press preseason top-25 four times in its history. It was preseason No. 15 in 2008-09, James Harden's sophomore and final season, as it never fell out of the rankings en route to a 24-9 final record. That marks the only time in the past 28 seasons it has been ranked in the AP preseason poll.

SUN DEVIL MEN'S BASKETBALL ASSOCIATED PRESS PRESS PRESEASON RANKINGS
2020-21: 18
2008-09: 15
1991-92: 24
1975-76: 18
1963-64: 6
 

There also is the usual news on the scheduling front as Coach Hurley and his staff have pivoted after the non-conference slate was canceled and scrambled to have a high-level opener...about as high-level as you can get. The Sun Devils will meet second-ranked Baylor on Wednesday, Nov. 25, at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT. It will tip at 9:30 p.m. ET/7:30 p.m. MT after third-ranked Villanova plays Boston College. On Thanksgiving, the consolation game will tip at 7 p.m. ET with the tournament championship game tipping at 9:30 p.m.  All four games will be televised nationally by ESPN.

ASU VS. BAYLOR (BAYLOR LEADS 6-2)
at Baylor 89, ASU 86 (Mar. 22, 2013/NIT)
at #11 Baylor 68, ASU 54 (Dec. 2, 2010)
Baylor 64, ASU 61 (Dec. 3, 2009)
Baylor 87, #14 ASU 78 (Nov. 28, 2008 at Anaheim)
ASU 89, Baylor 73 (Nov. 26, 1988 at Richmond)
ASU 90, Baylor 87 (Dec. 17, 1965)
Baylor 44, ASU 31 (1938-39 at Oklahoma City)
 

GONNA' PLAY FOLKS: Bobby Hurley is going to play some folks. In his first year after looking at a schedule he inherited that included tilts against NC State in Brooklyn, at Creighton, at UNLV and against eventual No. 18 Texas A&M, he put the wheels in motion to play at Kentucky and filled a holiday break hole that could have been a yawner with Stephen F. Austin. In 2016-17, the squad played No. 1 Kentucky in the Bahamas, Purdue in New York City, at San Diego State, and finished a series with No. 9 Creighton. Kansas returned a trip to Tempe in December of 2018 after ASU's win on Dec. 10, 2017. Baylor will be the seventh top-10 non-conference opponent Bobby Hurley has played in his five years, after ASU faced one in the previous 17 seasons.

ASU REGULAR SEASON OOC GAMES VS. TOP-10 TEAMS (SINCE JOINING PAC-10)
UNDER BOBBY HURLEY (7 COUNTING BAYLOR)
#2 Baylor vs. #18 Arizona State (Nov. 25, 2020)
#7 Virginia 48, ASU 45 (Nov. 24, 2019)
#18 ASU 80, #1 Kansas 76 (Dec. 22, 2018)
#16 ASU 95 @#2 Kansas 85 (Dec. 10, 2017)
#9 Creighton 96, ASU 85 (Dec. 20, 2016)
#1 Kentucky 115, ASU 69 (Nov. 28, 2016 at Bahamas)
@#5 Kentucky 72, ASU 58 (Dec. 12, 2015)

PRIOR TO BOBBY HURLEY
#7 Duke 64, ASU 53 (Nov. 25, 2009 at MSG)
#2 Kansas 90, ASU 88, OT (Nov. 26, 1997 at MSG)
ASU 97, #7 Maryland 90 (November 23, 1994 at Maui)
@#8 Oklahoma St. 87, ASU 69 (December 2, 1993)
@#9 Kentucky 94, ASU 68 (December 14, 1991)
@#2 Kansas 90, ASU 67 (December 22, 1989)
#10 North Carolina 85, ASU 66 (December 23, 1984 at Tokyo)
#6 Missouri 48, ASU 47 (December 27, 1982 at Honolulu)

NOVEMBER HAS BEEN GOOD: The Sun Devils are 16-2 (.889) in November the past three seasons (AKA the Remy Martin era), the second-best mark in the Pac-12 (Colorado leads at 16-1/.943) and tied for 11th in the nation.

ASU IN NOVEMBER PAST THREE SEASONS (16-2)
ASU 67, at Princeton 65 (Nov. 26, 2019)
#7 Virginia 48, ASU 45 at Uncasville, CT (Nov. 24, 2019)/defending NCAA champion
ASU 80, St. John's 67 at Uncasville, CT (Nov. 23, 2019)
ASU 92, Rider 55 (Nov. 17, 2019)
ASU 90, Central Connecticut State 49 (Nov. 14, 2019)
Colorado 81, ASU 71 at Shanghai, China (Nov. 6, 2019)
ASU 89, Omaha 71 (Nov. 28, 2018)
ASU 87, Utah State 82 at Las Vegas (Nov. 21, 2018)/MWC Champ and NCAA Team
ASU 72, #16 Mississippi State 67 at Las Vegas (Nov. 19, 2018)/NCAA Team
ASU 90, Long Beach State 58 (Nov. 12, 2018)
ASU 80, McNeese State 52 (Nov. 9, 2018)
ASU 102, Cal State Fullerton 94, 2 OT (Nov. 6, 2018)
ASU 102, #15 Xavier 86 at Las Vegas (Nov. 24, 2017)/Eventual No. 1 seed
ASU 92, Kansas State 90 at Las Vegas (Nov. 23, 2017)/Elite Eight
ASU 99, UC Irvine 78 (Nov. 19, 2017)
ASU 97, NAU 62 (Nov. 17, 2017)
ASU 90, San Diego State 68 (Nov. 14, 2017)/NCAA
ASU 94, Idaho State 74 (Nov. 10, 2017) 

SUN DEVIL NOTEWORTHY OOC TEAMS PLAYED SINCE HIRING OF BOBBY HURLEY
Creighton (Big East) -- won at Creighton in 2015-16, lost to top-10 Creighton in 2016-17 in Tempe and in 2019-20
Georgia (SEC) -- swept series with Georgia past two seasons with an Athens win in December of 2018 
Kansas (Big 12) -- two fun wins on the road at No. 2 and at home over No. 1
Kansas State (Big 12) -- won at Orleans Arena in November of 2017, Kansas State ended up in 2018 Elite Eight
Kentucky (SEC) -- lost to Wildcats in Lexington and in the Bahamas
Marquette (Big East) -- lost at Barclays Center in Coach Hurley's first year
Mississippi State (SEC) -- beat  a ranked and eventual NCAA Tournament Bulldog squad in Las Vegas in November of 2018
NC State (ACC) -- Beat NC State at Barclays Center in November of 2015
Nevada (MWC) -- Lost to undefeated Nevada in December of 2018 at STAPLES Center
Purdue (Big 10) -- Lost at MSG in Jimmy V. Classic in December of 2016
San Diego State (MWC) -- swept SDSU, winning at SDSU (2016-17) and in Tempe (2017-18)
St. John's (Big East) -- beat SJU in Los Angeles in December of 2017 on November 23, 2019 in Connecticut
St. Mary's (WCC) -- lost to constant NCAA Tournament team Gaels in December of 2019
Texas A&M (SEC) -- beat ranked Aggies soundly in Tempe in December of 2015
UNLV (MWC) -- won at UNLV and in Tempe in Coach Hurley's first two seasons
Vanderbilt (SEC) -- teams split with each winning at home after Vanderbilt was 2017 NCAA Tournament team
Virginia (ACC) -- fell to defending NCAA champion in November of 2019 in Connecticut
Xavier (Big East) -- beat No. 15 Musketeers, an eventual No. 1 NCAA seed, 102-86 in November of 2017 in Las Vegas

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