How Arizona State Could Be In The College Football Playoffs

It was shocking when 7:30 p.m. ET rolled around on Tuesday and the second week of rankings for the College Football Playoffs were released and the Committee had bumped Arizona State up to the 9th spot in the nation following their 19-16 overtime victory over Utah on Saturday.

Arizona State moved up five spots, while obviously impressing the Committee as a potential wild-card team to make a run at the national title.

The teams that the Sun Devils jumped ahead of were Georgia, Ole Miss, Arizona who each came away with losses on Saturday. Arizona State also passed Baylor and Notre Dame in the rankings, who surprisingly each won their contests on Saturday.

It makes sense for the Sun Devils to jump ahead of the first three of those teams, but when it was released that they were ahead of the Bears and the Fighting Irish it left a couple people wondering how the Committee could rank Arizona State over them.

Baylor played an outstanding game against Kansas which resulted in a 60-14 rout, while Notre Dame went on the road to defeat Navy 49-39. Notre Dame did struggle with the Midshipmen, even trailing entering the 4th quarter, but a road win is a road win and those are hard to come by on the big stage at the collegiate level.

A statement by Jeff Long, College Football Playoff committee chairman, noted that Arizona State’s victories over USC, Stanford, and Utah were significant enough for the five-spot improvement in this week’s rankings.

Oct 28, 2014; Grapevine, TX, USA; Selection committee chair Jeff Long speaks to the media after unveiling the top 25 teams in the initial college football playoff rankings at the Gaylord Texan Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

“They have a common opponent (with Notre Dame in Stanford). When we look at those games, we felt like Arizona State had accomplished more with their victory than Notre Dame had, so they (ASU) went ahead of Notre Dame,” Long added on a teleconference (http://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/college/asu/2014/11/05/asu-football-ninth-college-football-playoff-poll/18521515/).

So what exactly does #9 Arizona State have to do in order to make it into the top-four slots in the nation to compete for the national title?

The answer is simple: Win out.

Arizona State must be able to show up in the national spotlight against #10 Notre Dame on Saturday and control the game from the get-go. They must ride on the back of their captain senior quarterback Taylor Kelly and his beautiful back-shoulder fades to Jaelen Strong.

Oct 5, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils wide receiver Jaelen Strong (21) catches a pass for a touchdown in front of Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Austin Collinsworth (28) in the second quarter at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Their defense must capitalize on the mistakes the Oregon State offense makes when they head to Corvallis, Ore. in what could very well be a trap-game after facing ranked opponent after ranked opponent for the past five weeks.

The Sun Devils must keep the pedal to the metal when they host Washington State in the home finale and senior night. The seniors on both sides of the ball and special teams must come up with huge plays to shut the Huskies’ units down.

Then comes the long-awaited Territorial Cup. If Arizona State is able to defeat Notre Dame, Oregon State, and Washington State the Sun Devils could very well be a top-five team in the nation. There would be nothing sweeter for the Wildcats to disrupt the Sun Devils magical season with an upset.

If the Sun Devils can overcome the adversity that goes with the long season and beat the pressure that the Wildcats would force on them in the Territorial Cup in Tucson, Ariz. then Arizona State will be Pac-12 South champions for the second consecutive season.

Nov 30, 2013; Tempe, AZ, USA; General view as Arizona Wildcats center Steven Gurrola (56) prepares to snap the ball against the Arizona State Sun Devils in the 87th annual Territorial Cup at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Finally, the Pac-12 Championship game.

It would most likely be against the possible Heisman winner in Marcus Mariota and his Oregon Ducks. Both teams would be ranked in the top-five if they each win out from this point in the season. It would be held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. in early December in the first ever neutral site Pac-12 Championship game.

The winner of this offensive shootout would not only be crowned Pac-12 champions, but the winner would also punch their ticket to the inaugural College Football Playoffs.

Is it possible for Arizona State to go 4-0 the rest of the regular season and win the Pac-12 South? Yes.

Is it possible for Arizona State to go up against Pac-12 North champion Oregon and defeat them? Yes.

Could we actually be watching Arizona State taking on the likes of Mississippi State, Florida State, Auburn, and Alabama in the College Football Playoffs? Yes.

It is going to be a crazy ride for the remainder of the regular season of college football. Arizona State fighting for the national title doesn’t seem like just a crazy idea anymore, but more of a reality with each passing week.

Here is a look at the rest of the College Football Playoff rankings: http://espn.go.com/college-football/playoffPicture