Since he arrived at Arizona State in 2015, Bobby Hurley has never shied away from arduous, or what some would call problematic scheduling. He’s played Kentucky twice. Kansas twice.

Plus there’s Xavier, Kansas State, Nevada, Georgia and Vanderbilt, which aren’t exactly blue bloods but would probably be in the top half of the Pac-12 most seasons. At first, it didn’t go well, no one was too thrilled about the brutal schedule when Kentucky beat the Devils by 46.

But as the years went by and Hurley’s recruiting classes started to show up on campus, the demanding schedule began to pay off. Two seasons ago, the Devils knocked off Kansas State, Xavier, and Kansas, the latter pair eventually No. 1 seeds in the tournament.

Last year, they took down No. 1 Kansas at home and Georgia on the road.

Come March, Hurley and Co. were rewarded, the back-to-back First Four births a poignant reminder of ASU’s razor-thin margin for error. But the Devils slipped onto the right side of that razor-thin margin because of a tough strength of schedule -- and then some wins over that tough strength of schedule.

In Hurley’s fifth year, the Devils’ non-conference slate is again loaded. They’ve already gone to China to play Colorado. Later they’ll go to Princeton and San Francisco (a makeup game from last year’s game that was canceled because of fires in the area.) They’ll welcome Georgia, and it’s likely Top-10 pick in Anthony Edwards.

And on Saturday, ASU will be in Connecticut, 2,500 miles away from Tempe to play St. John’s (for the third year in a row) in the 2019 Air Force Reserve Tip-Off Tournament. A win against the Red Storm would likely pit ASU against defending-champion Virginia.

How’s that for strength of schedule?

“It’s kind of something we’ve been doing for years just trying to have an aggressive schedule and have a strong strength of schedule,” Hurley said. “I don’t want anyone accusing us of ducking anyone or not wanting to go out and play road games.”

For those counting, ASU will play its second true road game on December 3. Where does that stack up to other programs? Kansas’ second true road game doesn’t come until December 29. Virginia’s is on January 7. And Kentucky won’t get there until January 15.

“We’ll have two road games (on our non-conference schedule). A lot of teams may not have one until they hit conference play,” Hurley said. “I think it’s important to do that. You test your team all the time. You find out through failure sometimes what you have to get better at.

“You don’t do that by staying at home and not seeking out the best competition you can get.”

The last two years, the Sun Devils have spent Thanksgiving in Las Vegas, the victors of two-straight non-conference tournaments in Sin City. Along with the hardware added, it seemed the Sun Devils found an identity.

Two years ago, Tra Holder, Shannon Evans and Kodi Justice emerged as ASU’s three-headed monster in the backcourt. Last year, freshman Lu Dort proved to be the Devils’ most-lethal scoring option.

It seems, three games into the season, we have already learned a bit about the Sun Devils. Freshman Jaelen House is a terrorizer who doesn’t tire. Remy Martin has gone to another level, especially with his shooting. Freshman Jalen Graham will have a much bigger role down low than many expected.

ASU wants to play fast. It wants to pressure and press and score in bunches with its transition offense. Why? Because, well, Hurley has House, Martin and Alonzo Verge at his disposal. Telling those guys to slow down would be to limit them.

“The players steer you in the direction you need to go,” Hurley admitted.

And there lies the irony in what would be one hell of an intriguing matchup if the Sun Devils play Virginia on Sunday.

“While a majority of teams might be taking the blueprint of what the Final Four looked like last year with being a possession game, low-scoring game, low-possession game, we’re going the complete opposite way,” Hurley said with a chuckle.

That’s the beauty of these non-conference challenges. You see styles and teams and personnel combat each other. And regardless of the outcome, both sides learn something about themselves, something they can take for the future.

But let’s go back to that possible Virginia matchup.

Hurley said the dueling philosophies are going to come down to can the Devils speed those slow-paced teams up and pressure them. And if not, then they’ll have to value their possessions in the half-court, throw the ball inside and guard a team for 30 seconds.

“We’ll see as we go which side wins.” Hurley said.