MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Arizona State and Kansas State could be playing what amounts to an elimination game in the race for one of the two spots in the Big 12 championship game when they meet for the first time as conference rivals on Saturday night. One was expected to be in this position.
The other was not. At least, few people outside of Arizona expected the Sun Devils (7-2, 4-2) to have the same record as the No. 20 Wildcats (7-2, 4-2, No.
16 CFP) with three games left in the regular season. The newcomer to the Big 12 was picked dead last in the enlarged 16-team conference in the preseason poll, while the Wildcats were expected to finish second only to Utah. Yet here they are through nine games: Arizona State and Kansas State are tied with Iowa State and West Virginia in league play, trailing only unbeaten BYU and Colorado — whom the Wildcats already have beaten on the road this season.
“I definitely think our guys understand we have an opportunity,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. “We’re back in an underdog role. We are back being counted out.
We’re playing a team with a head coach who’s won four national championships (at the FCS level) and was picked to finish (second) in our league on the road.” Indeed, oddsmakers put Kansas State as a heavy favorite — 8 1/2 points, according to BetMGM. And a side-by-side comparison of schedules leans in favor of the Wildcats, who have much more prominent wins to their credit.
But as Bill Parcells once sa.
