Pac-12 Conference shaping up to be the best in college football

TEMPE, Ariz. — Arizona State football and Kenny Dillingham will have to navigate through the Pac-12 gauntlet this season. For a conference that usually gets pushed to the side and disregarded nationally, the world is finally starting to pay attention. The Pac-12 has more preseason-ranked teams than any other conference.

The Pac-12 has more preseason-ranked teams than any other conference

The official Pac-12 conference Twitter page released an interesting infographic on Thursday. The graphic lists all of the Power 5 conferences ranked by how many preseason-ranked teams they have. Here’s the graphic.

#Pac12FB leading the nation in early 2023 preseason rankings 👀💪

Check it ➡️ https://t.co/VTb12tv1DG pic.twitter.com/9fndOUyIdu

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) July 12, 2023

This is how the conferences rank:

1. Pac-12: 5.5
2. SEC: 5.3
3. Big Ten: 4.5
4. Big 12: 4.2
5. ACC: 3.0
6. Others: 2.5

To see the Pac-12 ranked first on any college football list is a rare sight. The conference, while has had great teams and some of the most exciting players in the sport, has consistently lacked national success. Since the College Football Playoffs began in 2015, only two Pac-12 teams have made the top four.

In 2015, the first season with the playoffs, Oregon made the top four. The Ducks were the #2 overall seed. They destroyed Florida State, 59-20 in the semifinals before losing in the national championship to Ohio State.

In 2017 the Washington Huskies made the playoffs. As the last team in they faced #1 overall Alabama and lost 24-7.

No Pac-12 team has been back in the playoffs since 2017, the longest drought for a Power 5 conference by far. With all of these top teams, do they have a chance at returning?

What does this mean for Arizona State?

According to the Pac-12 conference, five teams are consensus top-25 ranked teams (according to the major networks). The conference has a sixth team receiving votes in some of the polls, UCLA. Let’s look at which of those top six teams Kenny Dillingham will have to face in his first season.

• USC – September 23
• Washington – October 21
• Utah – November 4
• UCLA – November 11
• Oregon – November 18

*Bold stands for home game*

Arizona State plays five of the predicted top-six teams in the conference. The only one they avoid is Oregon State.

The Sun Devils also need to play in arguably the toughest environment in the conference. They need to travel to Autzen Stadium and face the Ducks in a matchup against Dillingham’s former team.

The toughest stretch of the season will be from November 4 through November 18 when ASU has to play a top-six team in the conference, three games in a row.

Dillingham and the Sun Devils have their work cut out for them in 2023.

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