Former Pac-12 football teams shock everyone by rising to top of Big 12
When the 2024 college football season started, there were two former Pac-12 football teams who were expected to do well in their first seasons in the Big 12: Utah and Arizona.
Utah was picked to win the conference, and Arizona was picked to finish fifth — and even garnered three first-place votes.
Three months later, the Utes (4-6, 1-6) and Wildcats (4-6, 2-5) are at the bottom of the Big 12.
At the top are two unlikely teams who struggled mightily in their final Pac-12 seasons: Arizona State and Colorado.
Arizona State Thriving in Big 12
The Sun Devils finished 3-9 last season, while the Buffaloes weren't much better at 4-8.
What a difference a year — and a new conference — makes.
In year two under Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State (8-2) is the biggest surprise in the country. The Sun Devils were picked to finish last in the Big 12 and the oddsmakers predicted they would win 4.5 games.
Arizona State has bucked the odds again and again, and is on the verge of a berth in the Big 12 championship game. The Sun Devils host BYU (9-1) on Saturday afternoon in the biggest game that's been played at Sun Devil ... rather Mountain America Stadium in many years.
"To say I saw us being at 8-2 and said 'Oh, this is what I expected.' You always expect to win," Dillingham said earlier this week. "I don't know how to explain it. I don't look at the macro very much, like how many wins are you going to achieve? It's so hard. ... We're four plays away from having four losses. We're a couple plays away from having 10 wins. That's the nature of football."
"What I noticed, like I said, the Mississippi State game, the first half of that game when we came out and we were physical, we played hard, we played with a passion and then just the guys' camaraderie throughout it was when I was like 'Ok, these guys they've got something to them.' And I always knew that, but it was when you see it live in a game setting it kind of confirmed that 'All right we've got something about ourselves.'"
Colorado vs. Arizona State in Big 12 Title Game?
Similar to Dillingham, Deion Sanders struggled in his first season as Colorado's coach.
Year two, however, has been much different.
The Buffaloes are 8-2 and control their own destiny when it comes to the Big 12 championship game. With wins over Kansas on Saturday and Oklahoma State next week, Colorado will clinch a spot in the title game — and their opponent could be Arizona State.
If the Sun Devils beat BYU and Arizona — and Iowa State wins out — they will finish in a three-way tie for second place with BYU and Iowa State. According to the Big 12 tiebreaker rules, this is the scenario that would be enforced: "The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage against all common conference opponents played by all other teams involved in the tie."
In this scenario, Arizona State would win the tiebreaker. The Sun Devils would finish 4-0 against common Big 12 opponents, while both BYU and Iowa State would finish 3-1. That would land the Sun Devils in the Big 12 championship game against former Pac-12 foe Colorado — with the winner claiming the Big 12 title and an automatic berth in the College Football Playoff.
It's safe to say no one predicted that matchup three months ago.
More Arizona State & Big 12 Analysis
Ben Sherman has been covering the sports world for most of his journalism career, including 17 years with The Oregonian/OregonLive. One of his favorite memories was covering the 1999 Fiesta Bowl - the first BCS National Championship Game - at Sun Devil Stadium.