Just about everything in the Big 12 was unexpected this season. The league added four new members, bringing in Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah from the collapsing Pac-12. Utah and Arizona were expected to contend for the league title in year one, but instead it was the Sun Devils—a team that went just 3–9 a year ago and was picked to finish dead last in its first Big 12 season—that lifted the conference trophy at AT&T Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Sun Devils didn't need to be reminded about the meager preseason expectations for the program. After Saturday's dominant 45–19 conference championship win, star running back Cam Skattebo let everyone know that Arizona State was well aware.
"Hey, we were picked dead last, man," Skattebo said after the game, in a video posted by ESPN. "I just want to say we on top, me and the boys on top. Let's go, go Devils."
Cam Skattebo: "We were picked dead last man, I just want to say WE ON TOP!"
— ESPN (@espn) December 7, 2024
Arizona State entered the season with a 0.7% chance to reach the CFP, per the Allstate Playoff Predictor 😱 pic.twitter.com/Gr4q2ZFisY
With the win, Arizona State is all but guaranteed an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff as one of the five highest-rated conference champions in the country. ASU entered the weekend ranked No. 15 by the CFP selection committee, five spots below Mountain West champion Boise State (No. 10) for the fourth autobid and a first-round bye, but well clear of AAC champion Army.
Of the five teams to receive preseason votes as Big 12 champion, only Kansas State (8–4, 5–4 in Big 12) finished as a bowl-eligible team. The other four—Utah, Oklahoma State, Kansas and Arizona—finished a combined 17–31 with an 8–28 conference record.
Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Baylor, TCU and Texas Tech all finished 8–4 or better after being picked to finish in the bottom half of the league.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Arizona State Relishes in Big 12 Title After Being Picked to Finish Last in Conference.
