Southern Utah at ASU (Thurs.) Sep. 2nd will kickoff at 7:30 pm and air on the P12 Network.

UNLV at ASU on Sep. 11th will kickoff at 7:30 pm and air on ESPN2.

ASU's road game at BYU on Sep. 18th will kickoff at 8:15 pm MT/7:15 AZ time and air on ESPN.

Stanford at ASU (Fri.) Oct. 8 will kickoff at 7:30 pm airing on ESPN

Zach Keenan's game recap

From a preseason listing by Athlon that has four teams listed from 1st team to 4th team...

1 ) Oregon = 14

2) USC = 13

2) Wash = 13

3) ASU =12

3) UCLA =12

4) Utah =11

5) Colorado = 10

6) Oregon St = 8

6) Wazzu = 8

7) Cal = 7

8) Stanford = 6

9) AU = 4

Here is a breakdown of the Sun Devils who have more 1st team members than any other PAC team, I think...

First Team = R White, RB...D West, OL...Tyler Johnson, DL...Chase Lucas, DB...Michael Turk, P...DJ Taylor, KR (six total)

Second Team = J Daniels, QB...K Diesch, OL...J Lole, DL...E Fields, DB (four total)

Third Team = M Robertson, LB (one total)

Fourth Team = C Trayanum, RB (one total)

If you totaled up points based on 4 pts for a 1st team player, 3 pts for a second team member, 2 pts for a third team member and 1 pt for a 4th team member, I think ASU may be first with points but I'm too lazy to do that...

I think this shows that ASU does not have to take a backseat to any other team in the conference from a talent standpoint and that we most probably have a significant talent edge against two thirds of the other teams in the PAC...

We don't have to play Oregon, get USC at home, but do have to play Wash, UCLA and Utah on the road that is a negative but also have five PAC home games that should be an advantage for us...

I will be disappointed if we don't win 10 or more games this coming season and I'm very excited about out chances to win the PAC and advance to a high ranking in the polls...

If not now, then when..??

Rose Bowl or Bust...

Go Devils!!!

Phil Mickelson is in first place at the PGA Championship with a score of -5 after his second round. At 50 years old, he'd be the oldest major champion ever if he were to win the tournament. If Mickelson leads when the second round is complete, he'd be the first player ever to hold the lead after a major championship round in the 1990's, 2000's, 2010's and 2020's, per @JustinRayGolf on Twitter.

Much like last season, ASU is scheduled to play two of its Pac-12 games earlier in the year and these are the two games:

Wed., Dec. 1, 2021 - Washington State at Arizona State
Sun., Dec. 5, 2021 - Arizona State at Oregon

Here are the Pac-12 teams ASU will face home and away:

Home: ARIZ, CAL, COLO, ORE, STAN, UCLA, USC, UTAH, WSU, OSU
Road: ARIZ, CAL, COLO, ORE, STAN, UCLA, USC, UTAH, WSU, WASH

So ASU misses Washington at home and Oregon State on the road.

Top defensive performers out of @RivalsCamp LA included a handful of positional MVPs, including some notable elite underclassmen as well as Boston College, Utah and Oregon commitments

STORY: https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-camp-series-los-angeles-top-defensive-performers

Agree or disagree on ASU and/or other Pac-12 teams?

Login to view embedded media

Here is how things stand entering the final weekend of conference play...

1) AU = 21-9 & 38-14 (Cats have clinched no worse than a tie for the PAC title and will probably host a Regional as a #1 Seed)

2) Oregon = 18-9 & 35-13 (Ducks travel to Cal this coming weekend and need to win all three games to tie for title)

3) Stanford = 15-9 & 31-13 (Cardinal hosts Oregon St this coming weekend and could tie for first, I guess, by winning all three, but they will have played three less PAC games so don't know how that works out)

Note: I think both Oregon and Cardinal hold tie-breakers against Cats but might be mistaken about that

4) ASU = 16-11 & 32-17 (Devils host Bruins this coming weekend but cannot catch AU in standings but could theoretically finish in second if a lot of things went their way this weekend and, if not, they could move down in PAC, too)

5) UCLA = 15-12 & 32-18 (Bruins still have a chance, like Devils, to finish in second place with a sweep of Devils and some other things going their way but could also move down in standings)

6) Oregon St = 15-12 & 33-20 (Beavers travel to Stanford and are still theoretically in race for second place in PAC)

7) Cal = 14-13 & 28-14 (Bears host Ducks but are out of race for second place)

Note: ESPNU will televise Devils-Bruins games this weekend

Pretty remarkable what the Devils have been able to accomplish so far given their pitching injuries and let's hope that it continues this coming weekend and beyond...

Go Devils!!!

Gotta admit that my perception of this ASU opponent is quite different after this comprehensive overview by CardinalSportsReport.com Publisher Jacob Rayburn

Rhett was the RCS LA DB MVP over the weekend ...

Four-star Bishop Gorman (Nev.) CB Justyn Rhett walked away with DB MVP honors at RCS Los Angeles.

Rhett has strong connections to a pair of SEC teams that have offered + he has one Pac-12 visit locked in for June

The latest: https://n.rivals.com/news/four-star-cb-justyn-rhett-has-strong-ties-to-sec-pac-12-teams

Top offensive performers out of @RivalsCamp LA included a handful of positional MVPs, including some notable underclassmen from the Left Coast, plus a few Pac-12 and Big-12 commitments

STORY: https://n.rivals.com/news/rivals-camp-series-los-angeles-top-offensive-performers

Link does mention the implementation of social distancing at SDS and the tickets will be sold accordingly. Increased capacity could take place according to the local guidelines. I don't have any information yet on specific capacity percentages, etc.

Mornin Mates...

Today's Topic = What are the chances..??

So, what are the chances of....

1) Phil winning the PGA major golf championship at the ripe old age of 50..??

2) Tracy Smith not being brought back next season as our baseball coach by RA..??

3) The Sun Devil men's golf team of winning an NCAA championship, in the near future, at a course in the Valley..??

4) The men's basketball team winning enough games next season to make a run at a PAC championship and make the Big Dance..??

5) The football team winning enough games to win the PAC and be in the national playoff picture..??

These are my responses to these questions...

1) I think Phil will be very hard pressed to win the PGA tournament today due primarily to his age and the way the course is so brutal on the back nine, where Phil has not played all that well during the tournament...so I give him about a 20-25% chance of winning his sixth major championship today...

2) I don't think there is any doubt whatsoever that Tracy Smith will not be back next season as our head baseball coach...his supporters, that include our AD, see that this has been a remarkable season in that the Devils have overcome so many obstacles to stay alive in the PAC race, this late in the season, and are a cinch to make the playoffs, once again, as a result...

Personally, I'm impressed by what the Devils have accomplished, so far, given the difficulties associated with the season, but also have no doubt that Tracy will most probably never win a PAC championship or enough to host a Regional, much less take us to the CWS...

3) I don't know enough about our golf team but we appear to have enough overall talent to win the championship, especially since the tournament will take place in our backyard and that is a huge plus...

4) I cannot believe what a wonderful job Bobby has done to completely overall the team with a load of talent that would appear capable of making a legitimate run at the PAC championship next season and winning enough to make the Big Dance for the fourth time in five years...

5) As far as the football team is concerned, I ask...if not now, then when, given our level of talent across the board, experience and quality depth at most positions, and the best coaching staff that Herm has put together at ASU, and a schedule that includes five home PAC games...

I await your great feedback as always and sure hope that our baseball team can beat the Trojans today to take the series and keep us in the top third of the PAC...

G'day Mates and Go Devils!!!

What does this mean?
Login to view embedded media

Matt McLain, who is projected to be a top 10 pick in the coming MLB draft has been out for a few weeks with a broken finger.

I'm not sure if he will play against ASU in the final series of the season but something to keep an eye on.

Another interesting development for the Bruins. Their Friday night guy is Zach Pettway. Last year in the shortened season he was 3-0 with a 1.05 ERA. The senior this season is 1-5 with an era over 5. In his last 2 starts he's gone a total of 8 innings and given up 14 earned runs.

In April he had 3 starts in a row where he threw over 100 pitches and I wonder if he is just a little tired.

The ASU linebackers' motto this year is carpe diem and thus its position coach Chris Claiborne is instilling a sense of urgency in one of the Sun Devils' most proven veteran groups

UPDATED roster picture as of April 8th

1. Jalen Graham
2. Luther Muhammad
3. Enoch Boakye
4. Will Felton
5. Jamiya Neal
6. Justin Rochelin
7. Demari Williams
8. Jay Heath
9. Marreon Jackson
10. DJ Horne
11. Zo Gaffney
12. Open
13. Open
14. Kimani Lawrence

*Due to the NCAA eligibility freeze Kimani Lawrence's return does NOT count towards the 13-scholarship limit.

***

What does this all mean: ASU seems pretty set in the backcourt. So a bigger wing and/or a frontcourt player are probably the positions they are seeking to add before the season tips off. This isn't a bad team but talk about the need for a lot of new players to get on the same page and fast...

Don't see ASU as a viable option at this point, but we'll see if that changes

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media

An interesting look across the Power Five:

They project Marcus Bagley being drafted in the first round no. 27 (to the Nets), and have Josh Christopher going in the second round at no. 39 (Kings).