Latest college bowl predictions: Arizona State vs. Louisville in Sun Bowl
The Arizona State Sun Devils have turned a corner in year two under Kenny Dillingham.
With five games left in the regular season, the Sun Devils (5-2, 2-2) need just one more victory to be bowl eligible.
And that victory could come Saturday at Oklahoma State. The Sun Devils are 3.5-point favorites and will be going up against a reeling defense that is the second-worst in Division I-A college football.
ESPN's Football Power Index (FPI) predicts the Sun Devils will win two more games and finish 7-5. That would put ASU in position to accept a mid-level bowl bid, like the Rate Bowl. Eight or nine wins would put them in position for a more lucrative bowl like the Sun Bowl or Holiday Bowl.
In the latest CBS Sports college football bowl projections from Jerry Palm, the Sun Devils are slotted for the Sun Bowl vs. Louisville on New Year's Eve. The Sun Bowl's payout last year was $4,550,000 - significantly more than a lower level bowl like the Rate Bowl ($1,625,560).
The Sun Bowl is in the final year of six-year contracts with the ACC and Pac-12. Even though the Pac-12 has disbanded, the 10 teams who left the conference will still play in Pac-12 affiliated bowls the next two seasons and not in bowl tie-ins with their new conferences.
The more wins ASU racks up, the better the bowl - and the bigger the payout. The Alamo Bowl ($8,252,740 last year) and Holiday Bowl ($6,532,700) are still within reach for ASU.
Here are Palm's latest college football bowl projections for former Pac-12 and current Big 12 teams:
Sun Bowl: Arizona State vs. Louisville
Holiday Bowl: Pittsburgh vs. Oregon State
Alamo Bowl: Kansas State vs. Washington State
Texas Bowl: Texas Tech vs. LSU
Pop-Tarts Bowl: Notre Dame vs. TCU
Las Vegas Bowl: Vanderbilt vs. Colorado
Liberty Bowl: West Virginia vs. Tulane
Rate Bowl: Baylor vs. Nebraska
Armed Forces Bowl: Cincinnati vs. Charlotte
Los Angeles Bowl: UNLV vs. USC
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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.