Arizona State basketball receives Big 12 schedule, with formal dates to come

There has been a renewed sense of enthusiasm around the Arizona State men's basketball program thanks to the best recruiting class in head coach Bobby Hurley's near-decade-long tenure.

Now the Sun Devils know how their journey will unfold, although formal dates were not part of the Big 12 schedule announcement.

There will be a 20-game conference schedule. The announcement added that opponents were selected based on a combination of geography, historical results and a poll of the coaches to best balance the schedule in terms of travel and competitiveness.

On the men's side, opponents both home and on the road are Arizona, Brigham Young, Colorado, Kansas State and Texas Tech. Teams visiting Desert Financial Arena will be Baylor, Central Florida, Houston, Iowa State and TCU while road-only opponents are Cincinnati, Kansas, Oklahoma State, Utah and West Virginia

Of course the most notable new conference opponent for ASU faithful will be Kansas as the Sun Devils have had some breakout moments against the Jayhawks in non-conference play during Hurley's tenure. In 2017, ASU defeated Kansas at Phog Allen Fieldhouse 95-85 when the Jayhawks were ranked No. 2 nationally. That was part of a 12-0 start to the season.

The following season, Kansas made a stop in Tempe and, again, ASU prevailed, this time knocking off the No. 1 Jayhawks, 80-76.

Another compelling matchup will come when TCU visits Tempe because point guard Frankie Collins, one of the crowd favorites in his two seasons in a Sun Devils uniform, has transferred to TCU.

The Big 12 is regarded as the best conference in college basketball, at least on the men's side, as eight teams advanced to the NCAA postseason the past spring. That group was led by Houston, which drew a No. 1 seed, and Iowa State, which was a No. 2. The Cougars (32-5, 15-3) were the regular-season conference champions while Iowa State (29-8, 13-5) was runner-up.

Iowa State upset Houston 69-41 in the conference tournament championship game held at T-Mobile Center in Kansas City.

Both those teams went undefeated on their home floor the past season with Houston 17-0 and Iowa State 18-0. Four Big 12 teams finished ranked in the top 20 of the final national poll - Houston (3), Iowa State (8), Baylor (16) and Kansas (19). That does not include Arizona (12), which moves into the conference in the fall along with ASU, Utah and Colorado.

The Sun Devils are coming off a 14-18 showing that included an 8-12 mark in Pac-12 play. But the Sun Devils boast a recruiting class ranked No. 7 by 247Sports in an overall ranking that takes into account high school prospects and transfers.

The composite ranking, which strictly considers high school newcomers, has ASU at No. 4 behind only Duke, Alabama and Rutgers. The cast of newcomers is led by five-star recruit Jayden Quaintance, a 6-foot-9 center from Raleigh, North Carolina. The quartet also includes a four-star prospect, Joson Sanon out of Vermont Academy, who had at one point committed to Arizona.

The schedules are not the same for the women, who play an 18-game schedule. ASU will play home and road against Arizona, BYU and Utah. Home-only foes are Baylor, Cincinnati, Iowa State, TCU, Texas Tech and West Virginia while road-only are Central Florida, Colorado, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State and Oklahoma State.

Arizona will play the same conference schedule as ASU on the women's side.