Categories: Arizona StateArticleFootball

ASU Football: Now what for the Sun Devils?

(Photo: Scotty Bara/WCSN)

Hopes of national title were essentially extinguished (barring a truly tremendous amount of chaos) with a loss to the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday night, but many of the lofty goals of the Arizona State Sun Devils are still somewhat feasible, if not entirely reachable.

The first of those goals is the retention of the Territorial Cup, which will be on the line one day after Thanksgiving in a matchup with the Arizona Wildcats in Tucson. A win over Washington State and Arizona would likely see the Sun Devils finish the regular season ranked as a top 10 team and secure back-to-back seasons of double-digit wins for the first time in more than four decades for ASU.

A Pac-12 Championship is also far from out-of-the-question for the Sun Devils, as two wins to end the season would put ASU on the doorstep of a trip to face the Oregon Ducks. The sole caveat is that Arizona State needs the UCLA Bruins to lose one of the last two games of the season to open the door.

UCLA finishes its year with back-to-back home games against the USC Trojans and Stanford Cardinal. A loss to either for UCLA, coupled with two more wins for ASU, and it’s another Pac-12 South title for the Sun Devils.

Win the Pac-12 South and pull off the upset over the Oregon Ducks in Santa Clara, Calif., and it’s not entirely illogical to believe ASU has a longshot argument at the College Football Playoff. Is it likely? Absolutely not. But a two-loss Pac-12 champion could be on the doorstep and, given the consistent chaos that is college football, who knows what could happen?

The three straight wins alone, including ones over Arizona and Oregon, as well as a loss for UCLA, would make ASU the highest-ranked Pac-12 team and certainly comfortably inside the top 10 of the CFB Playoff selection committee’s rankings once again. Especially considering the loss to Oregon State will likely drop the Sun Devils no further than No. 14 in the newest CFB Playoff rankings.

How deep ASU could climb into the top 10 will depend on the performances of several teams, but missing out on a playoff spot and settling for a BCS Bowl berth isn’t a terrible consolation, by any means. Even a pair of victories and a missed opportunity to go to the Pac-12 Championship could possibly result in a BCS Bowl bid, as ASU would likely sneak into the top 10 again with two more wins and could potentially pass the losers of conference championship games to snag an at-large bid.

So how about some scenarios and some projections?

– ASU defeats Washington State, Arizona and Oregon: Probably: Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.), but maybe: Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.)
– ASU defeats Washington State and Arizona, loses to Oregon: Probably: Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, Texas), but maybe: Holiday Bowl (San Diego, Calif.)
– ASU defeats Washington State and Arizona, no Pac-12 Championship: Probably: Fiesta Bowl (Glendale, Ariz.), but maybe: Alamo Bowl (San Antonio, Texas)
– ASU defeats Washington State, loses to Arizona: Probably: Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas), but maybe: Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, Nev.)
– ASU loses to Washington State, defeats Arizona: Probably: Sun Bowl (El Paso, Texas), but maybe: Foster Farms Bowl (Santa Clara, Calif.)
– ASU loses to Washington State and Arizona: Probably: Cactus Bowl (Tempe, Ariz.), but maybe: Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas, Nev.)