The Arizona State Sun Devils lost four of their last five to close out the regular season and took a 97-85 loss as a 7-point favorite against an unranked Colorado team in the first round of the Pac-12 tourney last week.

I think they're in for some serious trouble here in their First Four matchup with the Syracuse Orange who defeated Wake Forest by nine points before getting by blown out by the defending national champions UNC in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Syracuse has otherwise done very well to accumulate a 20-13 record, considering it has had a top-20 strength of schedule with four wins against top-50 RPI teams.

The Orange are ranked 16th in the nation in points allowed, giving up just 64.5 ppg, while the Sun Devils are ranked 254th in the nation in points allowed at 75.3 ppg. Arizona State has an edge offensively, but it won't be enough IMO.

My CBB Game of the Week is a 10* play on Syracuse Orange.