ASU Football: Rankings shake-up could bode well for the Sun Devils

(Photo: ASU Athletics)

The AP rankings were released Sunday morning, and its contents were utterly shocking.

Though the new top-25 list is certainly reflective of a wild day of college football, not many could have forecasted such a dramatic shift in the College Football Playoff and National Title picture.

Here are the latest rankings, accompanied by the school’s ranking the week prior. Pac-12 teams are in bold.

1. Florida State 5-0, Last week: 1

2. Auburn 5-0, Last week: 5

3. Mississippi State 5-0, Last week: 12

T3. Mississippi 5-0, Last week: 11

5. Baylor 5-0, Last week: 7

6. Notre Dame 5-0, Last week: 9

7. Alabama 4-1, Last week: 3

8. Michigan State 4-1, Last week: 10

9. TCU 4-0, Last week: 25

10. Arizona 5-0, Last week: NR

11. Oklahoma 4-1, Last week: 4

12. Oregon 4-1, Last week: 2

13. Georgia 4-1, Last week: 13

14. Texas A&M 5-1, Last week: 6

15. Ohio State 4-1, Last week: 20

16. Oklahoma State 4-1, Last week: 21

17. Kansas State 4-1, Last week: 23

18. UCLA 4-1, Last week: 8

19. East Carolina 4-1, Last week: 22

20. Arizona State 4-1, Last week: NR

21. Nebraska 5-1, Last week: 19

22. Georgia Tech 5-0, Last week: NR

23. Missouri 4-1, Last week: 24

24. Utah 4-1, Last week: NR

25. Stanford 3-2, Last week: 14

As the dramatic changes in the top-25 rankings illustrate, ASU’s “Jael Mary” was not the only mind-boggling happening of the day.

Five of the top eight and 11 of the top 19 nationally ranked schools lost on Saturday. Arizona went from unranked to 10^th after their win over Oregon, the largest accent since the founding of top-25 rankings in 1981. Oregon dropped out of the top ten as a result. Mississippi State is ranked third, its highest ranking since 1970. Both UCLA and Stanford looked anemic in losses to Utah and Notre Dame, respectively. Florida State maintained the top ranking. Then again, they were facing a Wake Forest team that scored ten points in its season-opening loss to Louisiana-Monroe.

But refocusing the discussion back to the team that earned the top play on SportsCenter last night (the only fact needed to merit discussion), what implications does this monumental shakeup have for the Sun Devil football team?

Thanks to a 38-34 come-from-behind road win against the Trojans, ASU jumped from unranked to 20^th in the country. And suddenly, just a week after many were inclined to pronounce the 2014 season a lost cause, the Sun Devils prospects look quite promising.

On the docket for ASU are four potential matchups against top-25 opponents—the first being an October 18^th matchup against the 25^th ranked Stanford Cardinal.

After that, the Sun Devils have contests against Washington, No. 24 Utah, No. 6 Notre Dame, Oregon State, Washington State and No. 10 Arizona.

Though the likelihood of the Sun Devils running the table is minimal, the thought is an interesting one to ponder: how polished and well-rounded would a 12-1 resume—with wins against five nationally ranked teams and one loss against a hyped UCLA team in a backup quarterback’s first collegiate start—appear in the eyes of the Playoff Selection Committee?

Granted, the frenzy of a walk-off Hail Mary win cannot obscure the fact that there are areas for massive improvement (most notably special teams) for ASU. But, with Stanford’s offense looking hapless, home matchups against Utah and Notre Dame and a Territorial Cup matchup that features a Wildcats team that needed a Hail Mary of their own to beat Cal, the same argument can be made about nearly all of the remaining schedule.

With Taylor Kelly nearing medical clearance and the kind of youthful exuberance that comes with a team that boasts a myriad of underclassmen in starting positions, the Sun Devils are getting healthy at a time in which others are not. As such, even if they fail to crack the College Football Playoff top four teams, the Sun Devils certainly have the strength of schedule and the momentum to alter the 2014 college football season on a national scale.

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