Arizona State Women's Basketball Remains on Tournament Bubble

The Sun Devils are continuing to battle to earn their first tournament appearance this decade.

Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Molly Miller reacts during action against the Arizona Wildcats on Jan. 28, 2026, at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

TEMPE -- The 18-5 Arizona State Sun Devils are seemingly set to battle for their NCAA tournament lives over the final four weeks of the 2025-26 season.

Head coach Molly Miller has been instrumental in an overnight culture shift in Tempe in her first year at the helm, although a recent string of losses - including a pair of undesirable defeats at the hands of Cincinnati and Kansas State - have put the designs of an NCAA tournament appearance in a state of doubt heading into the final eight games of the regular season.

Arizona State on SI explores where the Sun Devils stand in the projected tournament field, and what the next month of action spells out for the team below.

ASU Sun Devils forward McKinna Brackens (21) looks to pass the ball while being defended by Kansas State Wildcats guards Brandie Harrod (3), Taryn Side (11) and forward Jenessa Cotton (24) at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Feb. 1, 2026. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Arizona State Considered First Team Out

ESPN's bracket expert Charlie Creme has officially moved the Sun Devils out of the 68-team field as of Tuesday morning - as Arizona State is considered the "first team out" - the honor that goes to the first team to be held out of the field.

This is somewhat of a curious placement, as Arizona State has the makings of a tournament squad, including being slotted in at 51 in the NCAA NET rankings as of Tuesday.

The Sun Devils do lag slightly behind both Utah and BYU - who are considered the last two teams in the field at the moment. Arizona State does hold a road win over Utah, but one must wonder if the pair of quadrant three losses over the last week-plus ultimately hurt the Sun Devils' standing at the moment.

ASU Sun Devils guard Marley Washenitz (11) looks to pass the ball against the Kansas State Wildcats at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Feb. 1, 2026. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Remainder of Big 12 Schedule Poses Numerous Challenges

Arizona State is set to take on six of the Big 12 squads that are ranked above them in the NET rankings over the remaining eight contests.

• Oklahoma State (Wednesday)

• @ #15 Baylor (Saturday)

• Utah (Feb. 11)

• @ Iowa State (Feb. 18)

• BYU (Feb. 25)

• @ #18 Texas Tech (March 1)

The Sun Devils do receive two perceived "breaks" with games against the Arizona Wildcats and Houston Cougars, but much of the remainder of the season will be predicated on battling to get to around 22 victories.

The pair of quadrant three losses and a lack of quadrant one win are likely holding ASU back as of this week - the team needs to either win several of the remaining games, or to pick up a single "marquee" win over either Baylor, Iowa State, or Texas Tech.

Read more on the bold strategy that head coach Bobby Hurley employed with comments on 1/21 here, and on why Arizona State may have saved the season with the win over Cincinnati on Saturday here..

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