Just when Saturday night couldn’t get better for ASU football, it miraculously did.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In must-win mode for the rest of the season, Arizona State’s (8-2, 5-2 Big 12) dominant first half against No. 16 Kansas State (7-3, 4-3) was the catalyst in a 24-14 statement victory on the road. A few hours later, No. 7 BYU (9-1, 6-1) then suffered its first loss of the year as the Cougars were stunned 17-13 by Kansas (4-6, 3-4).
While it was the biggest game for the Sun Devils and Wildcats of the year with them both having identical records coming in, ASU prevailed and the chances of making the Big 12 Championship Game have improved drastically because of the BYU loss. If BYU had won, the Cougars could have afforded to lose one of their remaining two games while Arizona State needed to win still out as well as hope for a No. 18 Colorado (8-2, 6-1) loss.
By the Cougars losing and Arizona State winning on Saturday, though, it allows the Sun Devils to win out and strengthen its bid at a spot in the championship. Both ASU and BYU face each other next Saturday in Tempe, setting up for the biggest game at Mountain America Stadium in recent memory.
The only way ASU doesn’t have a guaranteed place in the title game – even if it wins out – would be if both Colorado and Iowa State (8-2, 5-2) win out and BYU loses the rest of its games. Colorado lost to Kansas State, giving the tiebreaker to ASU over the Buffaloes if Colorado loses another game.
ASU lost 24-14 to Cincinnati (5-5, 3-4), and Iowa State beat the Bearcats 34-17 on Saturday, but Arizona State won 35-31 over Kansas and Iowa State fell to Kansas 45-36. Whoever finishes higher between Kansas and Cincinnati in the Big 12 standings will dictate if ASU or Iowa State advance with the records against common opponents tiebreaker. Currently, ASU needs Kansas to finish higher than Cincinnati, and Iowa State needs Cincinnati to finish higher than Kansas.
Each team’s remaining schedules see Iowa State going up against Utah (4-6, 1-6) and Kansas State, Colorado playing Kansas and Oklahoma State (3-7, 0-7) while BYU has ASU and Houston (4-6, 3-4) upcoming. Kansas faces Colorado and Baylor (6-4, 4-3) to round out its calendar, and Cincinnati clashes with Kansas State and TCU (6-4, 4-3).
The two teams who are atop the conference standings will head to the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 7 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Takeaways from ASU pulling off monumental 24-14 victory over No. 16 Kansas State
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Reporter Alec Cipollini covers the Phoenix Mercury, Suns and ASU Athletics for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account, @AlecCipollini
