Arizona State Widely Projected to Reach CFP

Arizona State's national profile has risen greatly over the last calendar year due to an unexpected Big 12 title and admirable performance in the College Football Playoff.

The Sun Devils are entering year three of the Kenny Dillingham experience with a roster that is largely intact - and astronomic expectations that surround sudden success.

A panel of 12 ESPN college football experts gathered to give their respective selections for who will be partaking in the 12-team CFP that is set to begin in mid-December, and the Sun Devils were well represented.

The panelists that selected Arizona State - with opponents:

Kyle Bonagura: Has Arizona State traveling to face number seven seed Alabama.

Eli Lederman: Has nine seed Arizona State traveling to face eight seed Georgia.

Mark Schlabach: Has 11 seed Arizona State traveling to six seed Alabama.

Paolo Uggetti: Has nine seed Arizona State traveling to face eight seed Louisiana State

Dave Wilson: Has 10 seed Arizona State traveling to face seven seed Alabama.

There were several observations to take out of the selection process as well.

• Every single panelist that selected Arizona State to repeat as Big 12 champions clearly chose an SEC foe as the opponent - following in the footsteps of Texas being the Peach Bowl matchup.

• Arizona State was picked to play a road game in the first round in all five of the fields that they were selected to take part in.

• Arizona State was joined by Utah Texas Tech, Iowa State, and Kansas State as representatives of the Big 12.

• The Sun Devils are set to face three of the four teams above in 2025 - Utah on October 11, Texas Tech on October 18, and Iowa State on November 1.

• Iowa State and Kansas State are set to play this morning to set the tone for the Big 12 season that is to be.

• Based off of these bits of information, it appears as if there is still a level of bullish belief in the 2025 team, although the seeding placements lend the train of thought that they will once again be a two-loss champion. It would be highly unlikely for a one-loss Sun Devil team to be anything less than a host in the first round.

• Sam Leavitt, Jordyn Tyson, and other high-end talent is more than capable of competing with an SEC powerhouse - fans got a taste of that on January 1 of this year.

Read ASU on SI's exclusive interview with Tyson here, and on where Leavitt lands on the NIL merchandise sales leaderboard here.