Updating Arizona State's Standing Heading Into UCLA Contest

The Sun Devils remain well-positioned ahead of the start of Big 12 play.

ASU Sun Devils head coach Bobby Hurley yells out to his team as they play the Oklahoma Sooners at Mortgage Matchup Center on Dec. 6, 2025, in Phoenix, Arizona. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

TEMPE -- Arizona State's start to the 2025-26 season has been an eye-opener to those that refused to buy stock in the program in the offseason, and a welcome surprise for a fanbase that had lost hope following a disastrous 2024-25 campaign.

The Sun Devils have opened Bobby Hurley's 11th season with a 9-2 record - blending a combination of connected, intentional offense, strong situational defense, and shrewd coaching together to secure three major victories going into another consequential battle on Wednesday night against the UCLA Bruins.

Arizona State on SI goes over how the Sun Devils fare in key rankings going into the 8:30 P.M. MST tip-off time tonight.

The Sun Devils are currently framed as a likely NCAA tournament squad - at least according to the metric that is most widely utilized to decide who is and isn't tournament-caliber.

The wins over Texas (52), Oklahoma (55), and Santa Clara (58) are all considered quadrant two victories for the time being although a bump to quadrant one is within reach.

The 50-60 range is typically a solid measurement as to whether a team is an NCAA tournament squad or not, and the Sun Devils

ROTHSTEIN 45: 33

Jon Rothstein has become one of the most respected figures in the world of college basketball media over the years - he came into the season somewhat lukewarm on Arizona State due to uncertainty on the wings.

However, he has fully bought in to what Hurley is doing early on in the season, having ranked the Sun Devils inside the top 40 on a daily basis for the past week-plus.

Arizona State Sun Devils Moe Odum (5) looks at the net before taking a shot during a game against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe on Nov. 4, 2025. | Diannie Chavez/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

KENPOM: 64

Arizona State has stayed in the low 60's range of the metric that has been made famous by Ken Pomeroy. While this metric is slightly lower on them compared to others, this is a much stronger position than was expected heading into the season.

ESPN BPI: 90

The basketball power index utilizes real-world factors such as opponent's strength, site of the game to be played, etc in a simulation that gets run 10,000 times to predict where a team is likeliest to end up during a season.

Arizona State currently slides in as the 15th best team in the Big 12 out of 16 total programs - although they appear to be poised to make more jumps moving forward after rising eight spots in the last day.

Read more on why the Arizona State men's basketball team will exceed expectations in the 2025-26 season here, and on why the bright future of the football program isn’t dimmed by the loss to Arizona here.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page when you click right here.

Please follow us on X when you click right here, as well as @khicks_21 for nonstop Arizona State coverage!