CARLSBAD, Calif. – Too much winning is often the worst thing for somebody.
Those were the words of Arizona State head coach Matt Thurmond after the Sun Devils failed to qualify for the NCAA Championship as the top seed in the 2024 NCAA Ranch Santa Fe Regional and winners of three of their past four events, including the final Pac-12 Championship.
“There’s just a certain psychology that comes after you’ve been broken,” Thurmond explained at the time, “and it’s different than the psychology that you have after you win.”
The healing process for Arizona State this season has included three wins, spaced evenly throughout the season, along with five runner-up finishes, including the Sun Devils’ inaugural Big 12 Championship and the NCAA Bremerton Regional, where Arizona State cruised by 26 shots over Utah, which finished sixth as the first team out.