Men's hoops ranked 15th by Blue Ribbon Yearbook

 Blue Ribbon Preseason Top 25 in PDF Format

The Arizona State men's basketball team is ranked 15th in the Blue Ribbon Yearbook Preseason Top 15, the magazine announced this week. ASU is picked to finish second in the Pac-10 behind fourth-ranked UCLA (Blue Ribbon Preseason 25 is listed below).

It marks the second top-25 preseason ranking for ASU. ASU was ranked 25th by Rivals.com in its preseason rankings (see link below).


ASU Ranked 25th in Rivals.com Men's Hoops Preseason Poll (Sept. 22, 2008)

ASU returns its top seven scorers from last year's 21-13 team that tied for the nation's lead in win improvement, as ASU was 8-22 in 2006-07 but went on to beat NCAA Tournament teams Arizona (twice), Xavier, Stanford, USC and Oregon last year. ASU is led by senior Jeff Pendergraph, a 2008 third-team All-Pac-10 selection and first-team All-Pac-10 pick James Harden, the only returning All-Pac-10 first-team player from last season.

The Sun Devils open their season at home on Friday, Nov. 14, against 2008 NCAA Tournament participant Mississippi Valley State.

Pac-10 teams in Blue Ribbon's top 25 include UCLA (fourth), ASU (15th), USC (23rd) and Washington (25th). ASU could play Baylor (16th) or St. Mary's (19th) in the 76 Classic held Nov. 27-30 in Anaheim, with all games televised by ESPN2 or ESPNU.


BLUE RIBBON YEARBOOK TOP 25

1. North Carolina
2. Pittsburgh
3. Notre Dame
4. UCLA (visits ASU on Thursday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. Televised by ESPN)
5. Connecticut
6. Oklahoma
7. Louisville
8. Duke
9. Tennessee
10. Texas
11. Memphis
12. Purdue
13. Michigan State
14. Miami
15. Arizona State
16. Baylor (possible ASU opponent in 76 Classic held in Anaheim)
17. Kansas
18. Marquette
19. Saint Mary's (possible ASU opponent in 76 Classic held in Anaheim)
20. Syracuse
21. Gonzaga
22. Villanova
23. USC (visits ASU on Sunday, Feb. 15, at 8 p.m. Televised by Fox Sports Net)
24. Wisconsin
25. Washington (visits ASU on Saturday, Jan. 31, time and TV TBA)