Everybody associated with the Big 12 should be rooting for the Arizona State Sun Devils (11-2) when they take the field for the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on Jan. 1 against either Clemson (10-3) or Texas (11-2). Other coaches, players and fans as well. And yes, that means even fans of longtime nemesis Arizona, for whom that will be hard.
The Big 12 took a beating this year in terms of perception. It says a lot that Mountain West champion Boise State (12-1) was ranked ahead of the Sun Devils each week when the College Football Rankings were released.
And stakeholders from the Big 12 were fuming.
Why should a team whose best game on its schedule was losing to Oregon in Week 1 be slotted ahead of a Big 12 team that defeated four nationally ranked foes?
What better way to change the narrative than to beat a team from the almighty SEC, Texas? Or one of the premier brands in the ACC, Clemson?
The Big 12’s reputation was so bad that, late in the season, there was the possibility the conference wouldn’t get a team in the 12-team field at all. Really. Only the top five highest-ranked conference champions were guaranteed a berth, and one had to be a Group of Five school. But that doesn’t mean there couldn’t be three Power Four champions and two Group of Five representatives.
Tulane, out of the American Athletic Association, was ranked No. 18, four spots behind ASU in the Week 14 poll. Had the Green Wave not lost to Memphis, it might have challenged the Big 12 winner for a spot. Yes, that would have been an atrocity, but the possibility was out there.
Part of the reason the Big 12’s reputation took a hit was that the teams expected to be the contenders struggled mightily. The top five in the preseason poll were Utah, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Arizona. Three of those finished in the bottom four of the 16-team conference, with Kansas and Kansas State in the middle of the pack.
Little ol’ ASU was picked last, so, of course, the conference was “down” rather than ASU being a quality team that proved itself with a 45-19 beatdown of Iowa State in the Big 12 title game last week at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
It was the biggest margin of victory in any conference title game — and Iowa State was no slouch.
The Big Ten ended up with four teams in the field, the SEC three and the ACC two. Of course the SEC is whining because that’s all those schools do. Cue the outrage that, for once, Alabama didn’t get in. That’s a three-loss Alabama team that dropped games to .500 foes Vanderbilt and Oklahoma (by 21 points) and whose nonconference schedule included Western Kentucky, South Florida and Mercer.
Miami, which didn’t even make its conference title game, was the other team bumped when the dust had settled.
But back to the disrespect for the Big 12. ASU received a first-round bye but only because Clemson upset SMU in the ACC championship game, knocking SMU out of a top-four spot. Had that game finished the other way around, ASU would be hitting the road for a first-round game next weekend.
And there is still no logic for Boise being the No. 3 seed and ASU the No. 4. Besides the strength of the conference, ASU dominated its conference title game by a bigger margin on a neutral field than Boise did in its title game on its own Smurf Turf.
Many have sounded off, well yes it’s mostly the Big Ten and SEC talking heads, that the field should just be seeded with 12 teams and put the conference champions in the pecking order however the committee feels appropriate. There likely will be talk after this playoff pans out as to tweaks to the current format but for now, ASU is in a top-four spot with a chance to strike a blow for the conference.
The Sun Devils have won six straight games, and the last loss, at Cincinnati, came with their starting quarterback sidelined with a rib injury.
The signs of disrespect have been nonstop. ESPN’s “College GameDay” analyst Desmond Howard wondered why the ASU-Kansas State game was a big deal whenthe teams were playing with first place on the line.
And the hits keep coming, the latest with ASU called the worst CFP team ever.
No doubt Kenny Dillingham has collected more than enough bulletin-board material to motivate his squad. His team has thrived in the role of underdog all season and boasts a roster full of athletes who like to play with a chip on their shoulder. Well, that chip is now a boulder.
He acknowledged in Monday’s news conference his team would be the underdog no matter which team it faces.
But this underdog team is an easy one to support. ASU went from 3-9 — a program under the cloud of an investigation — to conference champion in one year. It has a coach, Dillingham, who has energized a fan base that had been apathetic and disillusioned by the sins of the previous coaching regime.
ASU serves as a good example to other programs going through struggles that redemption can come quickly, although it doesn’t come easily.
The Big 12 needs ASU to make a statement. Who knows what team might become the ASU of 2025 and possibly face the same discrimination? An hour before Saturday’s game kicked off, Commissioner Brett Yormark was asked about elevating the brand of the schools in his conference so they’re not just an afterthought this time next season. He admitted that was something about which he and his administration will have serious discussions.
Arizona State needs big-time support from its conference peers, whose cause would be helped dramatically by more stunning success from the Sun Devils.
