LOS ANGELES - In 1997, Arizona State finished 9-3 and beat Iowa in the Sun Bowl. Eleven years later, and the Sun Devils are still waiting to take that next step.

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Oh, there have been a couple of tantalizing seasons along the way — the Sun Devils went 9-3 in 2004 and 10-3 last year — but for the most part, ASU’s forward progress was stopped that December afternoon.

Think about it.

As a program, is ASU in better shape than it was in ’97?

Is it more of a factor in the Pac-10?

Has it made a bigger footprint nationally?

Here’s why the answer is no — to all three questions:

From 1988 to 1997, ASU went 40-36-1 in Pac-10 play. From 1998 to 2007, it was 40-40.

The truth is, ASU has gone backward since ’97. Back then, it was arguably the second-best program in the Pac-10, behind UCLA.

  

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