In 2006, Maryland coach Gary Williams was so miffed that his team got overlooked for the NCAA tournament, he temporarily declined a bid to the NIT.

He eventually reconsidered, but that lack of enthusiasm clearly rubbed off on his players. The No. 1-seeded Terrapins lost in the first round of the NIT that year, 87-84, to Manhattan.

Arizona State might have equal grounds to feel snubbed but has no intention of going down that path.

Coach Herb Sendek said on Monday that the team’s practice was “excellent.” Junior forward Jeff Pendergraph concluded that there really wasn’t any other option.

“We can’t come in here and be wallowing and everything because we didn’t get in, then play (today against Alabama State) and get smacked,” Pendergraph said. “That makes us look ridiculous.”

It’s clear, though, that the Sun Devils are still smarting from the emotional hit they took on Sunday. On Monday, point guard Derek Glasser was notified that his team got six votes in the latest ESPN/USA Today Top 25 coaches poll.

“I guess we’re somewhere in the top 34 then,” said Glasser, referring to the number of at-large selections.

Attention must be turned ahead quickly as the Sun Devils face off tonight with an Alabama State team that they know virtually nothing about.

The Hornets finished the season 20-10 and atop the Southwestern Athletic Conference. As of Monday afternoon, the team hadn’t yet reviewed game tape.

“By and large, we’re going to go into the game (today) with far less information than we’re accustomed to,” Sendek said.

Glasser said that shouldn’t be an issue.

“We’ve just got to go out and play,” Glasser said. “Our concepts, our fundamentals (do) what we’ve relied on for most of the year.”

Arizona State is the top seed in its bracket. Second is Florida, the two-time defending national champion, albeit with its core from those championship teams now in the NBA.

If the Sun Devils can win three games, they’ll play the semifinals at Madison Square Garden. The first two rounds will be played at Wells Fargo Arena.

The Sun Devils are hoping they’ll turn out like the No. 1 seeds from last year, which shook off any tournament bubble hangover to make a deep NIT run. West Virginia won the championship, and all four region favorites made it through their bracket unscathed.

“If we go out and lose in the first round, the people that didn’t believe we should be in (the NCAA tournament) are right,” Glasser said.

“We’ve got to go out and prove to ourselves that we belong in there. As long was we play hard, I think we’ll be all right.