Kenny Dillingham did not vanish into a mosh pit of delirious students following Arizona State’s latest triumph.
It was a road game, after all. Kansas State fans departed the Bill Snyder Family Stadium wondering how their 20th-ranked Wildcats could lose by double digits to an unranked, 7.5-point underdog.
But from ASU’s perspective, the victory was plenty worthy of a camera-hogging, coach-swallowing, student-led field storming.
Forget the mid-October win over Utah. Dillingham’s signature victory came last weekend in The Little Apple (Manhattan, Kan.) as the Sun Devils produced a 24-14 win, pronounced themselves a major factor in the Big 12 title race and inched closer the sport’s biggest stage.
While there are no guarantees, the Big 12 winner is expected to receive a berth in the College Football Playoff.
The Sun Devils (8-2/5-2) have won three games in a row and are tied with Iowa State for third place, one game behind Colorado and Brigham Young.
How can they get from here to there — from third place to a conference championship and the CFP?
The path is difficult and possibly complicated, especially if the Sun Devils lose one of their two remaining games. (In that case, their options would narrow considerably.)
If they defeat Brigham Young this weekend and win the Territorial Cup in Tucson, the Sun Devils would finish with a 7-2 record in conference play. At worst, they would be tied for second place with BYU and Iowa State, one game behind Colorado.
The Big 12 tiebreaker process starts with head-to-head results. But in the event of a three-team tie in which the tied teams did not all play each other — and Iowa State doesn’t play either ASU or BYU — the next step is required.
That step is the following:
“The records of the three (or more) tied teams will be compared based on winning percentage against all common conference opponents played by all other teams involved in the tie.”
ASU, BYU and Iowa State will conclude the regular season having played four common opponents: Kansas, Kansas State, UCF and Utah.
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Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
