Should Arizona State be ranked in AP Top 25 college football poll?
Arizona State stated its case for a Top 25 ranking on Friday night.
In front of a national TV audience the Sun Devils beat No. 16 Utah at their own game - smashmouth football. If you take away their four kneel downs, Arizona State rushed for 205 yards on 33 carries in its impressive 27-19 victory.
The last time Utah gave up over 200 yards on the ground? You have to go back more than two years to Sept. 3, 2022 against Florida.
The last time the Sun Devils were ranked in the AP Top 25 college football poll? You have to go back to Week 7 of the 2021 season - almost exactly three years ago when Kenny Dillingham was the offensive coordinator at Florida State.
Arizona State (5-1, 2-1) was picked to finish last in the Big 12 in the preseason media poll. Utah (4-2, 1-2) was picked to finish first. In a conference with incredibly slim margins, that could still happen. But as it stands on Oct. 12, the Sun Devils have beaten two teams who were expected to finish at the top of the conference - Utah and Kansas - and they are deserving of a national ranking.
The Big 12 only had four teams ranked in last week's poll - No. 11 Iowa State, No. 14 BYU, No. 16 Utah and No. 18 Kansas State. It's a safe bet Utah will drop out of this week's poll, which would potentially leave the Big 12 with only three ranked teams.
Arizona State's resume is good enough to warrant a ranking - anchored by a victory over a team that was ranked No. 12 in the nation to start the season. If Colorado upsets Kansas State on Saturday night, the Buffaloes would be 5-1 and also have a strong case for a Top 25 ranking.
The only other Big 12 team with one loss or fewer is Texas Tech (5-1), and the Red Raiders have a bye. They also don't have a signature victory. They beat Arizona State 30-22 at home on Sept. 21, but they have not beaten a ranked team. And their one loss was a bad one - 37-16 to Washington State in a game that was never close.
We'll see what the voters decide on Sunday.
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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.