After four days of sweating it out, the Arizona State Sun Devils and their fans got some good news Sunday: They're in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four years.
ASU made the Tournament as an at-large team despite finishing the season with 11 losses in its final 19 games. The Sun Devils will play Syracuse in a First Four game in Dayton on Wednesday beginning at approximately 6:10 p.m. Arizona time. The winner of that game will play No. 6 seed TCU in Detroit on Friday.
LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/QWTFfz35wi
— Sun Devil MBB (@SunDevilHoops) March 11, 2018
The Devils were rewarded by the selection committee for strong non-conference victories over Kansas and Xavier, as well as Pac-12 wins over UCLA, USC and Utah. The Devils opened the season 12-0 and were ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation.
ASU’s region: pic.twitter.com/djJwSYtGoZ
— Shane Dale (@ShaneDaleABC15) March 11, 2018
Going into Sunday, speculation ran rampant that Rhode Island needed to defeat Davidson in the championship game of the Atlantic 10 Tournament in order for the Devils to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. As fate would have it, Rhode Island is coached by Danny Hurley, Bobby's brother.
Rhode Island lost, but the Devils advanced to the Big Dance anyway. Bobby Hurley said he felt terrible for the pressure his brother felt to win, and was moved by Danny's enthusiastic reaction to the announcement that ASU is in.
#URI coach Dan Hurley reacts to brother Bobby and Arizona State making the NCAA field. pic.twitter.com/rXvkiBR8k3
— Bill Koch (@BillKoch25) March 11, 2018
Bobby Hurley said he was "moved" by the video of his brother Danny Hurley reacting to ASU's tournament announcement, and said he felt terrible for the extra pressure Danny put on himself to win today. pic.twitter.com/p7aNlURv5A
— Shane Dale (@ShaneDaleABC15) March 12, 2018
