The college basketball regular season has concluded, and conference tournaments have begun. Some teams are playing to improve their seeding in the NCAA Tournament, while others are fighting just to make it there. The teams in the second category are definitely under the most stress, and one of those teams is Arizona State.

The Sun Devils have been a very interesting team throughout the season. They started the year off strong by winning 11 of their first 12 games, but have been pretty inconsistent throughout conference play. Arizona State finished the regular season with a 20-11 record, including an 11-9 record in Pac-12 play.

According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi in his latest Bracketology, Arizona State is among the first four teams out of the NCAA Tournament. The Sun Devils were in a much better position after upsetting Arizona on Feb. 25, but losses to UCLA and USC to end the season knocked them down a bit. Now, they have some work to do in the Pac-12 Tournament to make the dance.

With that said, here are three things Arizona must do to make the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

3. Play cleaner basketball

One area where Arizona State has really struggled this season is avoiding foul trouble. The Sun Devils average a troubling 18.7 fouls per game, the most in the Pac-12 by an entire foul. They are also committing an average of 0.8 fouls per game than their opponents, which can quickly add up in tight games.

If the Sun Devils want to go on a run and make the NCAA Tournament, they must clean up their foul issues. Fortunately, their likely first three opponents in the Pac-12 Tournament, Oregon State, USC and Arizona aren't much cleaner, as they all average at least 17 fouls per game. That said, they still need to ensure that their own fouls don't cost them when it matters.

2. Shoot better from the field and the line

Another area where Arizona State needs to improve is simple team shooting. This isn't just an issue with one particular shooting stat, but all of them. In the Pac-12, the Sun Devils are 10th in field goal% (41.8), 11th in three-point% (31.3) and 10th in free throw% (69.5).

Unlike the foul problem, the Sun Devils don't get the benefit of playing other teams that struggle in this area. Oregon State is similarly poor at shooting from the field, but they do have the conference's best free-throw percentage (75). On the other hand, USC is third from the field and fifth from deep, while Arizona is first in both.

Arizona State can't rely on its opponents to miss shots, it has to make its own. Yes, that's a daunting task for the Sun Devils with the regular season already completed. If they want to make the dance, though, they'll have to find a way to fix it.

1. Arizona State basketball needs to win three games in the Pac-12 Tournament

There's a lot that goes into the NCAA Tournament bracket, so there's no guarantee that this run will get the Sun Devils in. However, if they are as close as Lunardi believes, then it would be difficult to deny them a spot. Wins over Quadrant 1 opponents in USC and especially Arizona would greatly boost the Sun Devils' chances of getting in.

That said, the reason why they still wouldn't be a lock is because of their low NET ranking. Arizona State sits at 64th on the NET rankings, well below the current at-large cutoff of 47th. The Sun Devils are even one spot behind Ohio State, which finished the regular season 13-18. That won't be as much of an issue as conference tournaments continue, but it is a big hill to climb.

The only way the Sun Devils can move themselves off the bubble is by winning the Pac-12 Tournament. That is a very tall task, though, and the odds are very much against them, per FanDuel. Still, a trip to the tournament final could be just enough to make it to the dance.