Arizona State ranked 17th in preseason Division I rankings by CBS Sports

The Arizona State Sun Devils find themselves ranked in the top-25 of another preseason list, joining their spot in the AP preseason poll.

The latest list comes from Matt Norlander of CBS Sports, who ranked the Sun Devils 17th in his annual ranking of all 357 Division I men’s basketball teams.

Norlander cited the return of prodigious scorer, Remy Martin, as well as the talented recruiting class headlined by Josh Christopher and Marcus Bagley as reasons to believe that ASU is slated to be a Pac-12 contender this year.

The Sun Devils were ranked in the AP preseason poll on Monday for the fourth time in school history, coming in at number 18 in this year’s rankings.

The longtime CBSSports.com columnist thinks the addition of Christopher and Bagley, along with the sharpshooting of Martin and the depth in the front court, are key ingredients for a possible conference championship this season.

This is the most talented and dangerous team in the Pac-12. How rare is this for the Sun Devils? The program has only been in the preseason AP Top 25 four times. Bobby Hurley was briefly duped by star Remy Martin, who pulled a fast one on his coach this offseason before revealing he was indeed returning to ASU. Martin could drop 30 on a given night but he won’t be asked to because ASU brought in five-star freshman Joshua Christopher, its best recruit since James Harden 13 years ago. Also starting: Alonzo Verge on the wing and Taeshon Cherry up front. ASU will be dangerous because its bench could put it over the top: freshman Marcus Bagley’s going to get burn, and sophomore center Jalen Graham is the best backup big in the conference.

ASU is coming off a third-place finish in the Pac-12 last season, finishing the year with a 11-7 record in conference play.

The Sun Devils have made the NCAA Tournament 16 times in school history, including in back-to-back seasons in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

ASU last reached the Sweet 16 in 1995, with the program’s last Elite Eight appearance occurring in 1975.

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