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The ASU basketball program could be in for a very special year according to an extremely early NCAA Tournament projection from college basketball insider Andy Katz.
Katz has the Sun Devils as a No. 4 seed in his latest March Madness predictions, which were released earlier this week.
Bobby Hurley’s team plays No. 13 seed New Mexico State in the first round of the tournament in Katz’s prediction.
The winner of that game would take on either No. 5 seed Indiana or No. 12 seeds Louisville or San Diego State.
Gonzaga is the No. 1 seed in Arizona State’s region, the West Region, in Katz’s early projection.
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Katz has ASU as the No. 14 overall seed in the tournament, placing the Sun Devils as the second No. 4 seed behind Rutgers.
ASU is the highest seeded Pac-12 team in Katz’s projection, which included five teams from the conference.
UCLA is the No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region. Stanford is the No. 6 seed in the West.
Colorado is the No. 11 seed in the East. Oregon is the No. 7 seed in the South.
Utah is listed as one of the first four teams out of the tournament in Katz’s predictions and Arizona is among the teams in the group of the next four teams out.
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Katz also had ASU ranked No. 14 in his most recent Power 36 rankings and picked the team to win the Pac-12.
“The Sun Devils are my pick to win the Pac-12 after the return of Remy Martin, Alonzo Verge Jr., and the impact of big-time recruit Josh Christopher,” he wrote. “Bobby Hurley should have a squad that will be chased from the outset.”
Katz recently named ASU senior point guard Remy Martin one of the top returning players in college basketball for the upcoming season.
“One of the better scorers obviously in the country and in the Pac-12,” Katz said of Martin. “Can distribute the ball, makes money shots. With (senior guard Alonzo) Verge back at Arizona State and one of the best recruiting classes in the country, this Arizona State team has a legitimate shot not just to win the Pac-12 but be a team that makes a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.”
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ESPN’s Joe Lunardi had Arizona State as the No. 7 seed in the South Region in his most recent NCAA Tournament projection, which was released last month.
The Sun Devils would face No. 10 seed Oklahoma in the first round in his prediction.
CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm hasn’t updated his March Madness projections since April, when he had ASU as the No. 10 seed in the West Region squaring off against No. 10 seed Purdue in the first round.
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