By Jacob Seliga
Lead Writer
For only the sixth time in program history, the Arizona State Sun Devils have won 11 games in a season. And for the first time since 1996, the Sun Devils won a conference championship outright.
With no expectations in the preseason and predicted by the media to finish in last place in the Big 12 conference, Saturday’s victory is the hallmark of a long stretch of work that Kenny Dillingham and his staff has put in since being hired just over two years ago.
Now, with nothing left for the playoff committee to evaluate before Sunday’s selection show, the debate rages on as to whether or not Boise State or Arizona State will receive a higher ranking and the rewards that come with it.
For whomever is the higher ranked team since both are conference champions, they will be selected to go play in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve and will receive a first round bye.
For the lower ranked team, they will likely finish as the No. 12 overall seed and will have to travel on the road to face likely the loser of the Big 10 championship or Notre Dame.
To most casual fans, one may look at the records and think that it’s a simple debate.
Boise State 12-1, loss to No. 1 Oregon
Arizona State 11-2, losses to Texas Tech and Cincinnati.
However this debate isn’t quite that simple. Boise State unlike the Sun Devils does not play in a power conference, in fact this season the Mountain West was a below average conference.
Only five teams in the Mountain West reached bowl eligibility, and Boise State only played two of those teams in San Jose State and UNLV
Outside of those opponents, the record of the five other conference teams Boise State faced was
3-9
3-9
3-10
4-8
5-7
Doesn’t exactly scream murderers row now does it?
With a weaker Mountain West than in typical years, how can one say that Boise has been tested enough to compete for a national title?
Sure, they played Oregon… That was a week two game where the Ducks offense had not come close to reaching its full potential and a team that struggled with FCS Idaho the week before and hadn’t flipped the switch.
Play that game today, Oregon is likely a multiple score favorite and would win handedly.
At a certain point as well, playing in a power conference has to mean something.
The Sun Devils schedule was much more challenging as Arizona State faced five different bowl eligible teams going 4-1 in those contests with an average margin of victory of 11 points per contest.
But what may be the most telling stat as to what makes the Sun Devils a successful case study and has historical precedent is the success of quarterback Sam Leavitt.
The redshirt freshman signal caller is 11-1 in contests he’s played which includes each victory over a bowl eligible team and the Sun Devils 26 point drubbing of Iowa State’s stellar pass defense in the Big 12 conference championship.
The lone game he did not play however was a true road game at Cincinnati in which the Sun Devils lost to the Bearcats on their homecoming 24-14 in a game that saw the worst passing performance of the year as a team.
If the Sun Devils had Leavitt in that matchup, this isn’t even a debate right now.
The committee proved last year that it only truly values what you do as a team when you have your quarterback as examples by the same group excluding Florida State from participating in the playoff without quarterback Jordan Travis.
If the quarterback position is that important to the committee, the top graded freshman regardless of position and one of the best signal callers in the country this year should warrant the Sun Devils getting a spot.
After all, having a quarterback who can play matters.
No team in the country heading into selection Sunday has been better in the country across the last month and a half than the Sun Devils who have dominated their competition behind Heisman trophy candidate Cam Skattebo who has become not just a fan favorite but an example to coaches across the country to type of player they’d want.
Just ask Nick Saban on College Gameday.
When the bracket is released, the Sun Devils regardless of seed should be in a position for a favorable matchup. The playoff is supposed to put the best 12 teams in the country into the bracket to compete for a national title.
How can that bracket be respected if a team that has played at a top three level entering the postseason could be seeded as low as 12 but a team that tested itself 12 weeks ago could coast by with a bye?
The Sun Devils have earned a right to play for a title and as a power conference champion deserve a bye and a chance to compete with a path that is compatible to their schedule and challenge this year.
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