How much will ASU football's win help in college football rankings?

How much will ASU football’s win help in college football rankings?

Posted by author December 1, 2024 Football

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The Arizona State football team did its job on the football field, defeating rival Arizona 49-7 in its regular season finale Saturday afternoon. Will the Sun Devils be rewarded for that when the latest national rankings come out Sunday?

ASU was ranked No. 14 by the Associated Press last week and No. 15 in the Coaches Poll, but the all-important College Football Playoff ranking on Tuesday had ASU at No. 16. The final CFP ranking will come out on Dec. 8, setting the field for the first-ever 12-team playoff.

ASU (10-2, 7-2) will face No. 18 Iowa State (10-2, 7-2) at 10 a.m. next Saturday in the Big 12 championship game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The Sun Devils certainly passed the eye test, beating the Wildcats decisively from start to finish with the Sun Devils scoring on their first four possessions. The Sun Devils have won five straight games, with their last loss coming on Oct. 19 at Cincinnati 24-14. That was the game starting quarterback Sam Leavitt missed due to injury.

Whether or not ASU moves up depends on how other teams fared.

No. 15 South Carolina (9-3), the team right in front of ASU in the CFP Top 25, picked up an impressive 17-14 win over No. 12 Clemson. There are two other three-loss SEC teams in front of ASU — No. 14 Mississippi and No. 13 Alabama.

Two teams ahead of ASU lost. No. 2 Ohio State was upset by Michigan 13-10 while No. 6 Miami was upset by Syracuse 42-38 and isn’t even making the ACC championship game.

The biggest question Tuesday will be whether the Sun Devils can leapfrog Boise State, which beat Oregon State 34-18 on Friday. That is important as the top four conference champions get a first-round bye in the CFP. Boise State is playing in the Mountain West title game against No. 22 UNLV but ASU has a better strength of schedule. The Sun Devils have beaten three teams that were nationally ranked when they met.

ASU, Iowa State, BYU and Colorado all finished tied for first in the Big 12 with ASU and Iowa State winning the tiebreaker scenario Saturday and getting berths in the conference championship game. That will give them a chance to further their postseason resume. Iowa State defeated No. 24 Kansas State 29-21 in its final regular season game.