ASU’S BIGGEST LOSS OF THE SEASON? EXPOSURE

It’s hard to see in the dark. For Arizona State’s basketball team, the lights have been off most of the season.

Another season fades to black.

Wasted opportunity? The 2012-13 Sun Devils likely will miss the NCAA Tournament once again. Unbecoming losses and poor strength of schedule are recurring saboteurs. The party line touts a 20-win team that exceeded media expectations, but I’m guessing Jahii Carson was anticipating more than a NIT berth.

For now, Herb Sendek is safe. The ASU head coach is under contract through 2015-16, and while he was hired by a different regime, Athletic

Director Steve Patterson said he is very pleased with Sendek’s recent performance.

“I think the team has made tremendous progress this year,” Patterson said. “Herb did a really good job of getting out in the community and telling his story. Recruiting has improved. The development of Carrick Felix shows there is some really great coaching going on. And that was the key, to see a turnaround in the program and getting it moving in the right direction.”

But here’s the problem: This program doesn’t get marquee players that often. Every so often, they’ll land a blue-chipper who thinks a little differently than the rest. Guys like Ike Diogu, James Harden or a kid who wants to put the hometown program on his back like Carson).

When that happens, the Sun Devils need to capitalize. They’ve had Carson in the program for two years: one to prepare and one of full participation. They might get one more. And yet the Sun Devils are still grounded, under the radar, in search of market relevance.

They also represent the first big failure of Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott, previously hailed as a conference savior.

Scott badly oversold his fledgling television network, promising a new era of unlimited access. Six months later, the Pac-12 still doesn’t have a deal with DirecTV, which has 50 percent penetration in the Valley and controls the market with its NFL products.

Initially, conference officials urged sports fans to switch satellite providers as a form of boycott, which turned out to be a laughable plea. A transplanted Steelers fan isn’t going to give up the NFL package in return for a smorgasbord of local college sports.

Those that have the Pac-12 network are very impressed. Those that don’t are aggravated but unmoved. To its horror, the conference discovered it was competing against professional football and not just a satellite television provider.

In this game, the Pac-12 is truly out of its league. And in the end, Scott should have known better than to unveil a network without a key carrier in tow.

Welcome to a colossal blunder, and the ongoing fiasco hurts everybody. It might even affect the decision-making process of young athletes, as recruiters from the SEC or Big Ten can point to the limited exposure as a reason to avoid the Pac-12.

And yet no team paid a price like ASU, which was unveiling a new era and a dazzling new point guard.

Instead of groundbreaking exposure, ASU’s basketball team couldn’t reach a good portion of potential customers. DirecTV subscribers (which includes most sports bars) rarely found the Sun Devils on television, missing out on a season that was frequently entertaining and occasionally surprising.

Along the way, ASU missed out on a fortune in cross promotion. Before the Pac-12 network was formed, the Sun Devils would play between 10-15 games on Fox Sports Arizona, which heightened awareness by marketing ASU games during Diamondbacks, Coyotes and Suns broadcasts.

Thus, the terrible irony: Carson’s debut season was supposed to bring a much-needed spotlight to Wells Fargo Arena, a place where the product and ambience certainly has improved.

But you wouldn’t know it sitting in your living room, where the Sun Devils lost half their audience. And that’s no way to begin a new era.