Steve Patterson likes ASU’s chances to make NCAA Tournament
Feb 21, 2013, 10:25 PM | Updated: 10:55 pm
After Wednesday night’s win over Washington State at Wells Fargo Arena, the Arizona State Sun Devils are 20-6 and in fourth place in a much-improved Pac-12.
The consensus among college hoops experts is that the Sun Devils are squarely on the bubble to join the field for this year’s NCAA Tournament.
For instance, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm doesn’t have ASU in the field while ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently does.
One person who understandably has a good feeling about the Devils’ Big Dance hopes is Arizona State vice president for university athletics Steve Patterson, who told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 620 Thursday that Saturday’s home finale against Washington looms large.
“I think we’ve got a good shot. We need to get a win on Saturday — it’s a big night for us, it’s a late game on television at nine o’clock.
“I think if we get that win and I think it would be good if we got one more win on the road, then I think we’re in a pretty good position.”
Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, Patterson is happy with the growth the basketball program has seen this season.
“The last four games, it’s the first time the school has had over student attendance over a thousand every game — they were great (Wednesday) night, there was a lot of fun antics to watch,” he said. “There’s a lot of good buzz around the program right now.”
