The Arizona State baseball team has missed the NCAA Tournament after starting the season hot, but faltering heavily down the stretch and ending with a 32-23 record (16-13 in Pac-12).
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Arizona State is left out of the NCAA tournament. Didn’t do enough down the stretch after a tremendous first half. Can only imagine the sick feeling at Muni right now.
— Jack Loder (@JackLoder_) May 29, 2023
ASU was among the teams listed in the first four out in the selection show this morning, as its overall performance on the season and RPI ranking (52nd) did not end up proving to the committee that it should have made the tournament.
The Sun Devils were projected to be in as a bubble team on most sites until yesterday following a lot of bid-stealers winning their conference tournaments. ASU was subsequently left off of some predictions completely, including one by Baseball America.
Tulane went on a Cinderella run to win the AAC title and earn an NCAA Tournament bid with a 19-40 record 🤯 pic.twitter.com/4JbG81wd3d
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 29, 2023
Just a few weeks ago, people were discussing that Arizona State would be hosting a regional and now the Sun Devils are out completely. They started 28-12, but struggled heavily to close out the season, including a stretch of getting swept consecutively by Stanford and USC and ultimately losing nine of ten games.
ASU last made the tournament in 2021 after going 33-22, but has now failed to reach the big dance in both of coach Willie Bloomquist’s first two years at the helm.
ASU baseball's scoring:
• Through April: 𝟳.𝟱 runs/game (44 games, .681 win%)
• Since May 1: 𝟯.𝟲 runs/game (10 games, .200 win%) pic.twitter.com/eGNCdj6nUc
— Brad Denny (@BDenny29) May 23, 2023
In the Pac-12 Tournament, No. 5-seeded ASU fell to No. 8 Arizona in the first game of pool play, and then beat No. 2 Oregon State the next game, but were eliminated from being able to move forward in the tournament despite the win.
Their first round opponent, Arizona (33-24 overall, 12-18 in Pac-12), ended up making the NCAA Tournament after advancing all the way to the Pac-12 championship game, where the Wildcats fell to Oregon. Arizona was ranked 45th in RPI and was even selected over Pac-12 foe USC (34-23, 17-13) as well, who was projected as in by most media outlets. The Wildcats will be playing in the Fayetteville Regional (hosted by No. 3 Arkansas).
ASU was listed among first four out. Ultimately, ASU was swept by UC Irvine and lost six straight against Stanford/USC. Winning a couple of those nine games changes the outcome.
— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) May 29, 2023
The committee has set this precedent with including Arizona and not including ASU and USC: Being mediocre at best all season long and getting hot for one week is more valuable than winning conference series and putting together a better overall and conference record. That’s BAD.
— Jack Loder (@JackLoder_) May 29, 2023
Stanford (hosting a regional), Washington, Oregon and Oregon State were the other Pac-12 teams to make the tournament.
Arizona State starting PG Frankie Collins withdraws from NBA Draft, returns to Sun Devils
The Sun Devils and Bloomquist have a lot to think about moving forward after what appeared to be a promising season coming to a close without a NCAA Tournament bid.
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Brendan Mau is a college sports insider and general assignment reporter for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on Twitter via @Brendan_Mau
