Even a First Four victory for Arizona State would represent an upgrade in the conference's performance over last year, when ASU and UCLA were eliminated in Dayton, Ohio, and No. 4 seed Arizona was routed by Buffalo in the first round. The Pac-12 didn't make the round of 32 for the first time since 1986, and that showing followed the conference's 1-8 record in football bowl games.
The league went 3-4 in bowls this past season and received nothing higher than a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Even so, having three teams in this week’s field is a bigger achievement than seemed likely as of a month ago.