If we are to believe in ominous signs and a sports fan’s superstition, then ASU fans could be facing a troublesome road.
Recent losses to UA in both men’s basketball and gymnastics don’t bode well for a fan base that finally regained football bragging rights.
Fall went quite well. Football beat UA for the first time since 2007, women’s soccer recorded the first ASU territorial cup victory of the year and men’s cross-country easily defeated a Wildcat squad that finished last in the Pac-10. But if there is some imaginary jar of good luck juice, how much of it was used on those two blocked extra points?
A 3-2 ASU advantage in the Territorial Cup now suddenly looks like false advertising. Obviously the ASU men’s basketball team isn’t the high-caliber squad it has been over the past three years, and UA already defeated the Sun Devils once on Jan. 15.
Women’s basketball dominated UA in Tempe on Jan. 16, but the Wildcats are much improved and currently hold a better overall record than ASU. Gymnastics lost to UA on Friday by just over one point, and now have to wait for the Pac-10 Championships to compete against them again.
Swim and Dive are UA’s strong suits, with the men ranked No. 2 in the nation and the women humbly placed at No. 7. The Sun Devils aren’t ranked on either side.
Advantage: UA
Baseball and Softball are toss-ups with both teams competing for national titles (as long as the appeal on NCAA sanctions against the ASU baseball team goes through).
Advantage: Even
Men’s golf looks to favor ASU, but the Sun Devil women are working with only two experienced players on the roster.
Advantage: UA
ASU men’s track and field is easily the favorite, but the women’s side is much closer. The Wildcats finished one spot ahead of the Sun Devils in both the indoor and outdoor Pac-10 Championships last season.
Advantage: Even
Women’s tennis is an ASU strong point in the rivalry, and they play UA in Tempe this season.
Advantage: ASU
Why so ominous? Well, ASU’s two major sports, football and men’s basketball, are still two struggling teams.
Normally at least one of those two teams reaches the postseason. For the longest time it was football, and for the last three years it was basketball, but now it’s neither.
Hopefully it’s not like this for an extended period of time.
Beating UA in football this year was great, but the Wildcats went to another bowl game while the Sun Devils watched from home.
Rivalry wins may be hard to come by in 2011, so here’s hoping the ASU Quidditch team can take down the Wildcats and put another tally in the win column. We will need every one we can get.
