The season isn’t over, but Arizona State football coach Kenny Dillingham has already done enough for the program to clear a space in the trophy case for a Big 12 Coach of the Year award.
Sun Devils fans should cherish it, because I think it’s all he’s gonna get.
There’s no way ASU is going to beat Iowa State in the conference championship game to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff.
But before I explain why I think this mirage of a season is about to disappear for the school in the desert, I need to make good on a promise to fans. I’ve got an apology song for you.
As far as I can tell, I’ve been Dillingham’s only critic. When he was hired a couple of years ago, ASU announced him as a returning hero. An alum who went off into the world of college football, made good and was ready to come home to lead the program he grew up rooting for to glory.
Cool story, bro.
But he was so young that I wouldn’t have trusted him to Uber me to the airport, let alone give him the keys to a major college football program.
I wondered why do some people get to be “boy wonders” while others have to pay their dues for decades and others don’t ever get a chance at all?
I also wondered why, if he was such a prodigy, were the expectations so low? People made more excuses for this guy than Joe Biden made for his son Hunter.
Nobody iced A Mountain like that to make the sledding easy for the guy who came before Dillingham, so why should it be any different in this case?
When the Sun Devils started winning games this season, I mostly ignored it. But by the time Dillingham led ASU past Utah, I was paying attention. And before the BYU game, I wrote this:
“I’ve been tougher on Dillingham than an air fryer is on a chicken nugget, but I’ve been a believer ever since he beat a ranked Utah squad.
“If he’s able to knock off No. 14 BYU, I’ll write a song about him, set to the tune of Chris Stapleton’s ‘I Was Wrong.’”
So, before I explain why ASU’s music is about to stop, I’m here to make good on my promise, because Kenny Dillingham is the real deal. This guy has been as good as anybody, and the program is fortunate to have him:
I’ve been thinking ’bout my thoughtful words, and I didn’t care how much they must have hurt
And I take it back; Kenny, please let me take it back
I know I told you that I don’t think you, could get to a bowl; ASU fans stink, pee-ew
But I take it back; Devils, won’t you let me take it back?
ASU you know that IIIIIIIIIII, love you like Tempe weather
And on Saturdays, IIIIIIIIII’ve been so alone
I don’t know whyyyyyyyyyy, I told you Herm was better
Can’t you see, Coach Dilly, IIIIIIIII was wrong?
Let’s pause here for the guitar solo, giving me a chance to explain why we should appreciate this dream season now before we all wake up.
The Big 12 gets about as much college football love as somebody who gives you a pack of cheap tube socks for Christmas. The conference is probably going to get only one representative in the CFP, even with the expanded field.
And that’s partly the fault of sportswriters. Every team that was predicted to be good before the season ended up toward the bottom of the standings. And the team that was picked to finish last, ASU, ended up as one of the best teams around.
Those low expectations are partly why Dillingham should be coach of the year.
We should have expected Coach Prime to be pretty good up in Colorado, what with his No. 1 draft pick of a son, Shedeur Sanders, and his Heisman contender of a receiver/cornerback, Travis Hunter.
Worst to first:How big is ASU’s margin at the top of the final Big 12 power rankings?
Regardless of where they were picked in the standings, we could have predicted at least some success for the Buffaloes, based on those players, the start they got off to last year and Deion Sanders’ success at Jackson State a few years ago.  
As for Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, that guy wins Big 12 coach of the year awards like school principals collect old soup cans during food drives. He can let somebody else have a turn, especially since he’s about to win the conference title for one reason and one reason only: Everybody all year long has been wrong about the Big 12, why should we expect that to stop now?
Prognosticators from Bristol, Connecticut, the home of ESPN, to Las Vegas, the home of gambling oddsmakers, are predicting that ASU will win in Dallas on Saturday.  
ASU isn’t sneaking up on anybody anymore.
So, can the Sun Devils play with the pressure of expectation? Especially now that their top offensive playmaker, Jordyn Tyson, is out with a shoulder injury?
I doubt it.
But then again, I’ve been wrong before.
Maybe if Dillingham leads his team past Iowa State, I’ll jump on social media and perform the instant classic of a song I just wrote?
Maybe not. I’ve heard me sing. Trust me. No one wants that.
It’s been a helluva ride for Dilly and the Devils. Enjoy it for what it is, because I don’t expect it to get any better.
Reach Moore at gmoore@azcentral.com or 602-444-2236. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @SayingMoore.

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