Arizona State Football: Breaking Down the Sun Devils' Remaining Schedule

Aside from having awesomely cool new jerseys, the Arizona State Sun Devils have raised more than a few eyebrows in the Pac-12 this season.

The team currently resides at the top of the Pac-12 South with a conference record of 3-1 and an overall mark of 5-2.

With nothing but cupcakes fit for a birthday party remaining on the schedule, Arizona State has a spot in the conference championship game squarely in its sights.

It's a goal that's more than viable for the Sun Devils, especially when looking over the schedule.

Stay tuned, because that's exactly what we're going to do.

October 29th: Colorado Buffaloes

Fresh off of their bye week, the Sun Devils find themselves in a second consecutive bye week.

Only kidding, but the Colorado Buffaloes are essentially equivalent to a bye week.

Currently sitting at 1-7, Colorado has dropped five straight games and are winless in the conference.

I could go on and on about what Arizona State needs to execute for them to come out victorious in Tempe on Saturday, but truth is that I'd just be wearing out my digits.

The Sun Devils merely need to show up to the stadium to move to 6-2.

November 5th: UCLA Bruins

I expect the UCLA Bruins to be sitting at a 3-5 overall record and fighting for their coach's job when the Sun Devils make a trip to play them in early November.

Now as I alluded to earlier, UCLA is not a very good football team. However, they have talent and pieces that can surprise a team like Arizona State.

They have large targets in Nelson Rosario and Joseph Fauria for quarterback Kevin Prince to throw to, but on the defensive side of the ball—they're bad.

Like really bad.

Arizona State can't look past them, but in the end, the Devils will roll.

Expect a 7-2 mark through 10 weeks of the season.

November 12th: Washington State Cougars

Washington State jumped out to a nice 3-1 record to open to season. But since then the Cougars have lost three straight and now find themselves at 3-4 with a manageable schedule ahead.

When they host Arizona State on November 12th I foresee them sitting at 4-5 after losing to Oregon and then beating California in the preceding weeks.

Listen, the Cougars are not a bad football team—they're not good either—but they do have their bright spots.

They have an experienced senior quarterback in Marshall Lobbestael, who has his offense ranked in the top 10 in passing offense.

If Washington State wants a shot, it is going to have to attack the Sun Devil secondary and force linebacker Vontaze Burfict into erratic play.

This game will be closer than expected because of the home-field advantage factor but ultimately the Sun Devils win a high-scoring affair in Pullman.

ASU! ASU! 8-2! (It rhymes.)

November 19th: Arizona Wildcats

Arizona State and Arizona's football rivalry is one of the best, most competitive in-state rivalries we have in college football.

Bragging rights for the game dubbed "The Duel in the Desert" currently lie with the Sun Devils, but the Wildcats own the series record, 46-31.

This year it seems likely that the Sun Devils will retain the Territorial Cup because they, simply put, are a much more complete football team.

The Wildcats are inept on defense and it's shown in previous box scores. They have given up 37 or more points in five of their last six games.

Rivalry games always bring a different variable of emotion to the table but I have a strong feeling that in this match, the better team will come out victorious.

November 25th: California Golden Bears

California is the best team remaining on Arizona State schedule and frankly, the Bears may be the only team good enough to receive a bowl game bid at the end of the season.

When it's all said and done, and these two teams meet in the season finale, we're going to see a clash between two Pac-12 bowl teams.

California should be at 7-4, including 4-4 in the conference, while one the other side, the Sun Devils should be fighting for a berth in the conference championship game at 9-2, including 7-1 in the Pac-12.

Cal is not going to roll over in this one, and it has the ability to effectively move the ball on offense as well as force turnovers on defense—so expect them to be highly competitive.

In the end I can't see the Sun Devils falling at home in a prime-time ESPN game.

Note: ASU has already played a Friday night game televised by ESPN at home—it defeated Missouri in overtime, 37-30.

Pac-12 Championship Game

After running the table in its remaining schedule, Arizona State will clinch a berth in the inaugural Pac-12 championship game.

Their likely opponent—the Oregon Ducks.

The Ducks will arrive to the game after running the table in their remaining schedule, including triumph in a monumental showdown on November 12th against Stanford.

Arizona State and Oregon's prospective championship showdown will be a rematch of an October 15th game that saw the Ducks reign as two-touchdown victors.

Unfortunately for the Sun Devils the rematch will end in similar fashion.

Arizona State should head into bowl season with a 10-3 mark—a very impressive showing from a very impressive team.

Bowl Projection

Last Year

No bowl game with a  6-6 (4-5) record.

Arizona State made its case for bowl eligibility with a double overtime victory over Arizona in the season's final game. Their claim went unrewarded.

This Year

I have the Sun Devils playing through the regular season at 10-2 and will clinch a berth in the inaugural Pac-12 championship game against the Oregon Ducks. Like I stated, they'll lose that rematch and finish the regular season at 10-3 (8-2).

That record will garner them a trip to the Valero Alamo Bowl against a Big 12 opponent (either Kansas State or Texas A&M).

From there, who knows, the game could really go either way, depending on opponent.

All I know is the Sun Devils and their fans should be proud of their immense improvement from a year ago.