The Pac-12 Conference has released the weekly matchups and site designations for the league's 2016-17 men's basketball season, as the Sun Devils will open the season in the Bay Area at the end of December and finish the season with a Territorial Cup matchup in Tempe.
The announcement reflects the games being played and the home/away designations each week of the Pac-12 regular season. Specific dates and times for each game within a week will be announced later this summer after selections by the league's television partners are finalized. All Conference games will be televised by either ESPN, FOX, CBS or Pac-12 Network.
Tip-off of the league's regular season will begin no earlier than Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016, with ASU in the Bay Area taking on either Stanford or Cal in its Pac-12 opener.
Regular-season play will conclude on Saturday, March 4, 2017, with the final week highlighted by the Territorial Cup ahead of the Pac-12 Tournament's debut at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas from March 8-11.
ASU will play seven home games in the non-conference season at Wells Fargo Arena/Ned Wulk Court, where it has gone 58-14 (.806) in past four seasons, including two wins over ranked teams last year as it beat No. 23 USC 74-67 on Feb. 12, 2016 and #18 Texas A&M 67-54 on Dec. 5, 2015. ASU has five wins vs. ranked teams at home in the past three seasons, tied for the most in the Pac-12 at that time. ASU notched eight top-100 RPI wins in 2015-16. In non-conference action ASU beat SEC co-champion Texas A&M (RPI 18), Southland Conference champions Stephen Austin (61), OVC top seed Belmont (95), UCSB (98), and Creighton (100), while in conference play it won vs. Oregon State (33), USC (51), and Stanford (87).
@SUNDEVILHOOPS WINS OVER RANKED TEAMS PAST THREE SEASONS
ASU 74, #23 USC 67 (Feb. 12, 2016)
ASU 67, #18 Texas A&M 54 (Dec. 5, 2015)
ASU 81, #6 Arizona 78 (Feb. 7, 2015)
ASU 69, #2 Arizona 66 (Feb. 14, 2014)
ASU 79, #25 Marquette 77 (Nov. 25, 2013)
@SUNDEVILHOOPS SCHEDULE (AS OF JULY 26, 2016)
Friday, Nov. 11 vs. Portland State
Sunday, Nov. 13 vs. Cal Poly
Thursday, Nov. 17 vs. Northern Iowa in Tire Pros Puerto Rico Tip-Off (two-time defending MVC Tournament champion)
Friday, Nov. 18 vs. Tulane/Oklahoma in Tire Pros Puerto Rico Tip-Off
Sunday, Nov. 20 at Tire Pros Puerto Rico Tip-Off
Wednesday, Nov. 23 vs. Citadel
Monday, Nov. 28 vs. Kentucky at Bahamas (8-time NCAA champion)
Saturday, Dec. 3 vs. UNLV (six NCAA Tournaments in the past 10 seasons)
Tuesday, Dec. 6 vs. Purdue at New York City (eight NCAA Tournaments in past 10 seasons)
Saturday, Dec. 10 at San Diego State (seven NCAA Tournaments in past 11 seasons)
Saturday, Dec. 17 vs. New Mexico State (four NCAA Tournaments in past five seasons)
Tuesday, Dec. 20 vs. Creighton (10 NCAA Tournaments in the past 18 seasons)
Thursday, Dec. 22 vs. Central Arkansas
2016-17 SUN DEVIL PAC-12 PAIRINGS
DEC. 28-JAN. 1: The Sun Devils will travel to the Bay Area to open the Pac-12 season, as it has won two of the past three at Haas Pavilion and is 5-2 vs. Golden Bears in past seven meetings. ASU's 35-point 79-44 win Jan. 22, 2015, at Cal is its biggest Pac-12 win since since it beat Washington State by 41 (96-55) on Jan. 11, 2003, and the second-largest Pac-12 road win in school history, as it dealt the Golden Bears their second-largest home loss. ASU will attempt to win at Stanford for the first time since the 2009-10 season. ASU will open the Pac-12 season on the road for the sixth time in nine seasons.
JAN. 4-8: ASU will host Utah and Colorado for the first time since the 2014-15 season, as these teams missed the Arizona road swing last year. ASU will not visit Utah or Colorado in 2016-17. ASU is 58-14 (.806) in home games the past four seasons. ASU is 3-1 vs. Colorado in Tempe (including a current three-game win streak) and also 3-1 vs. the Utes.
JAN. 11-15: Somewhere in these five days, the Sun Devils head to Tucson.
JAN. 18-22: ASU returns to Los Angeles. ASU last won at USC 62-53 on Jan. 5, 2012, and last won at UCLA on 61-58 in overtime over the ninth-ranked Bruins on Jan. 17, 2009 in a CBS broadcast with Derek Glasser and James Harden leading the way.
JAN. 25-29: ASU plays host to WSU and Washington. ASU holds a 41-36 series lead over WSU and has won five of the past six, nine of the past 12 overall and six straight in Tempe.
FEB. 1-5: ASU makes the trip to the Oregon schools after missing the trip in 2015-16.
FEB. 8-12: ASU hosts the Bay Area schools as it swept the Bay Area homestand for the first time since 1994-95 in 2013-14 and did the same in 2014-15. ASU has swept Cal in two of the past three seasons (after not sweeping them since 1999-2000). ASU has topped Stanford in each of the past three seasons at home.
FEB. 15-19: Pullman and Seattle were bad and good for ASU the past two years. Last year ASU won in Pullman but lost in Seattle. In 2014-15, ASU lost a tough one in Pullman but bounced back with Sunday win in Seattle.
FEB. 22-26: USC and UCLA come to Tempe in late-February. ASU sent the eventual Pac-12 champions Bruins home with a 78-60 loss on Jan. 26, 2013 and then ASU topped the Bruins on James Harden night (Feb. 18, 2014). The teams did not visit in 2014-15. ASU topped USC in Tempe but fell to UCLA. ASU is 8-1 vs. USC in Tempe in the past nine meetings including a 74-67 win over #23 USC on Feb. 12, 2016. ASU has won four straight vs. USC in Tempe.
PAST 9 ASU VS. USC GAMES IN TEMPE (ASU LEADS 8-1)
ASU 74, #23 USC 67/Feb. 12, 2016
ASU 64, USC 59/Feb. 22, 2015
ASU 98, USC 83 (OT)/Jan. 24, 2013
ASU 56, USC 52/Feb. 25, 2012
USC 63, ASU 61/Jan. 27, 2011
ASU 59, USC 54/Mar. 4, 2010
ASU 65, USC 53/Feb. 15, 2009
ASU 80, USC 66/Mar. 1, 2008
ASU 68, #22 USC 58/Feb. 18, 2007
MAR. 4: The final game of the regular season is a Territorial Cup tilt in Tempe. ASU has topped the Wildcats in three of the past five meetings in Tempe. ASU is 9-10 vs. Arizona in the past nine seasons. The 69-66 double-overtime Sun Devil win over No. 2 Arizona (23-1) on Feb. 14, , 2014, marks the the highest ranked team the Sun Devils have topped at home.
The announcement reflects the games being played and the home/away designations each week of the Pac-12 regular season. Specific dates and times for each game within a week will be announced later this summer after selections by the league's television partners are finalized. All Conference games will be televised by either ESPN, FOX, CBS or Pac-12 Network.
Tip-off of the league's regular season will begin no earlier than Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016, with ASU in the Bay Area taking on either Stanford or Cal in its Pac-12 opener.
Regular-season play will conclude on Saturday, March 4, 2017, with the final week highlighted by the Territorial Cup ahead of the Pac-12 Tournament's debut at the new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas from March 8-11.
ASU will play seven home games in the non-conference season at Wells Fargo Arena/Ned Wulk Court, where it has gone 58-14 (.806) in past four seasons, including two wins over ranked teams last year as it beat No. 23 USC 74-67 on Feb. 12, 2016 and #18 Texas A&M 67-54 on Dec. 5, 2015. ASU has five wins vs. ranked teams at home in the past three seasons, tied for the most in the Pac-12 at that time. ASU notched eight top-100 RPI wins in 2015-16. In non-conference action ASU beat SEC co-champion Texas A&M (RPI 18), Southland Conference champions Stephen Austin (61), OVC top seed Belmont (95), UCSB (98), and Creighton (100), while in conference play it won vs. Oregon State (33), USC (51), and Stanford (87).
@SUNDEVILHOOPS WINS OVER RANKED TEAMS PAST THREE SEASONS
ASU 74, #23 USC 67 (Feb. 12, 2016)
ASU 67, #18 Texas A&M 54 (Dec. 5, 2015)
ASU 81, #6 Arizona 78 (Feb. 7, 2015)
ASU 69, #2 Arizona 66 (Feb. 14, 2014)
ASU 79, #25 Marquette 77 (Nov. 25, 2013)
@SUNDEVILHOOPS SCHEDULE (AS OF JULY 26, 2016)
Friday, Nov. 11 vs. Portland State
Sunday, Nov. 13 vs. Cal Poly
Thursday, Nov. 17 vs. Northern Iowa in Tire Pros Puerto Rico Tip-Off (two-time defending MVC Tournament champion)
Friday, Nov. 18 vs. Tulane/Oklahoma in Tire Pros Puerto Rico Tip-Off
Sunday, Nov. 20 at Tire Pros Puerto Rico Tip-Off
Wednesday, Nov. 23 vs. Citadel
Monday, Nov. 28 vs. Kentucky at Bahamas (8-time NCAA champion)
Saturday, Dec. 3 vs. UNLV (six NCAA Tournaments in the past 10 seasons)
Tuesday, Dec. 6 vs. Purdue at New York City (eight NCAA Tournaments in past 10 seasons)
Saturday, Dec. 10 at San Diego State (seven NCAA Tournaments in past 11 seasons)
Saturday, Dec. 17 vs. New Mexico State (four NCAA Tournaments in past five seasons)
Tuesday, Dec. 20 vs. Creighton (10 NCAA Tournaments in the past 18 seasons)
Thursday, Dec. 22 vs. Central Arkansas
2016-17 SUN DEVIL PAC-12 PAIRINGS
DEC. 28-JAN. 1: The Sun Devils will travel to the Bay Area to open the Pac-12 season, as it has won two of the past three at Haas Pavilion and is 5-2 vs. Golden Bears in past seven meetings. ASU's 35-point 79-44 win Jan. 22, 2015, at Cal is its biggest Pac-12 win since since it beat Washington State by 41 (96-55) on Jan. 11, 2003, and the second-largest Pac-12 road win in school history, as it dealt the Golden Bears their second-largest home loss. ASU will attempt to win at Stanford for the first time since the 2009-10 season. ASU will open the Pac-12 season on the road for the sixth time in nine seasons.
JAN. 4-8: ASU will host Utah and Colorado for the first time since the 2014-15 season, as these teams missed the Arizona road swing last year. ASU will not visit Utah or Colorado in 2016-17. ASU is 58-14 (.806) in home games the past four seasons. ASU is 3-1 vs. Colorado in Tempe (including a current three-game win streak) and also 3-1 vs. the Utes.
JAN. 11-15: Somewhere in these five days, the Sun Devils head to Tucson.
JAN. 18-22: ASU returns to Los Angeles. ASU last won at USC 62-53 on Jan. 5, 2012, and last won at UCLA on 61-58 in overtime over the ninth-ranked Bruins on Jan. 17, 2009 in a CBS broadcast with Derek Glasser and James Harden leading the way.
JAN. 25-29: ASU plays host to WSU and Washington. ASU holds a 41-36 series lead over WSU and has won five of the past six, nine of the past 12 overall and six straight in Tempe.
FEB. 1-5: ASU makes the trip to the Oregon schools after missing the trip in 2015-16.
FEB. 8-12: ASU hosts the Bay Area schools as it swept the Bay Area homestand for the first time since 1994-95 in 2013-14 and did the same in 2014-15. ASU has swept Cal in two of the past three seasons (after not sweeping them since 1999-2000). ASU has topped Stanford in each of the past three seasons at home.
FEB. 15-19: Pullman and Seattle were bad and good for ASU the past two years. Last year ASU won in Pullman but lost in Seattle. In 2014-15, ASU lost a tough one in Pullman but bounced back with Sunday win in Seattle.
FEB. 22-26: USC and UCLA come to Tempe in late-February. ASU sent the eventual Pac-12 champions Bruins home with a 78-60 loss on Jan. 26, 2013 and then ASU topped the Bruins on James Harden night (Feb. 18, 2014). The teams did not visit in 2014-15. ASU topped USC in Tempe but fell to UCLA. ASU is 8-1 vs. USC in Tempe in the past nine meetings including a 74-67 win over #23 USC on Feb. 12, 2016. ASU has won four straight vs. USC in Tempe.
PAST 9 ASU VS. USC GAMES IN TEMPE (ASU LEADS 8-1)
ASU 74, #23 USC 67/Feb. 12, 2016
ASU 64, USC 59/Feb. 22, 2015
ASU 98, USC 83 (OT)/Jan. 24, 2013
ASU 56, USC 52/Feb. 25, 2012
USC 63, ASU 61/Jan. 27, 2011
ASU 59, USC 54/Mar. 4, 2010
ASU 65, USC 53/Feb. 15, 2009
ASU 80, USC 66/Mar. 1, 2008
ASU 68, #22 USC 58/Feb. 18, 2007
MAR. 4: The final game of the regular season is a Territorial Cup tilt in Tempe. ASU has topped the Wildcats in three of the past five meetings in Tempe. ASU is 9-10 vs. Arizona in the past nine seasons. The 69-66 double-overtime Sun Devil win over No. 2 Arizona (23-1) on Feb. 14, , 2014, marks the the highest ranked team the Sun Devils have topped at home.