BCS Rankings 2011: Arizona State Sun Devils Snubbed from Initial Rankings

After a disappointing loss to the Oregon Ducks on Saturday night, the disappointment continued across Sun Devil nation as Arizona State found out Sunday night that it was not a part of the initial BCS 25.

This news was surprising. Sure, the Sun Devils are 5-2, but they lost two their two games to BCS-ranked No. 23 Illinois and No. 10 Oregon.

Arizona State also beat Missouri and USC when they were ranked this season. The Sun Devils have had a relatively hard schedule this season playing Oregon State, Utah, USC, Illinois, Missouri and Oregon. That is not too easy of a schedule. So how does that compare to other two-loss teams who made the BCS?

Texas A&M lost to Oklahoma State and Arkansas. Sure, both those teams are ranked in the top 10 of the BCS, but A&M didn't even defeat them. Who did they defeat? Southern Methodist, Idaho, Texas Tech and Baylor. The only team on that list that has been ranked at all this season was Baylor, and it was ranked and were proven to not be that great of a team to lose to A&M 55-28.

As for the other two-loss team, Auburn, the Sun Devils look a little less impressive compared to them. Auburn has had victories over Mississippi State and South Carolina. It also lost to Clemson which wasn't ranked at the time and Arkansas. It can't be said that Arizona State is any more deserving the Auburn, but with the Sun Devils at No. 20 in the initial BCS rankings, it is hard to imagine how the they didn't manage to get a spot in 21-25.

The one that is astonishing is Texas. This season, the Longhorns have beaten BYU (by one), Rice, UCLA and Iowa State. They lost badly to Oklahoma and lost by 12 to Oklahoma State last week. Even if they were great teams and Texas should have lost, their schedule has not been as strong on a consistent basis as the Sun Devils'. Don't expect Texas to be around when the games against Kansas State and Texas A&M come around. A November 12 matchup at Missouri may even trip up Texas.

It is what it is though. So from here on out all the Sun Devils can do is win out the rest of their regular season schedule and play their best to beat either Stanford or Oregon in the inaugural Pac-12 championship game.

If the Sun Devils can beat, and they should, Colorado, Arizona, Cal and Washington State, they may find themselves slip into the top 25 over the next month.

If they can beat either Stanford or Oregon, whoever makes it, in the conference championship, they could make some serious moves. So don't eliminate the Sun Devils just yet from anything.

No reason to lose hope too soon. Arizona State is right now No. 25 in the AP polls, so with a few wins they will move up and could be moving into the BCS sooner then you think.