ARIZONA STATE FOOTBALL

Mandel: ASU Sun Devils could gain credibility with win over Texas A&M

Sep 3, 2015, 4:53 PM | Updated: 4:55 pm

Follow @theAdamGreen...

LISTEN: Stewart Mandel, Fox Sports college football insider

Saturday afternoon — 4 p.m., to be exact — the Arizona State Sun Devils will begin their 2015 season against Texas A&M at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.

ASU enters it ranked 15th in the AP poll, and while A&M is outside of the top 25, they are from the SEC and are a team some — including FOX Sports.com’s Stewart Mandel — are picking to be a surprise this season.

With the Devils having eyes on a championship season, it’s safe to say this is a big game.

“I believe so,” Mandel told Bickley and Marotta on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM Thursday when asked if ASU needs a win to validate the high expectations. “Because the SEC continues to be the measuring stick, whether people like it or not.

“Two and five — the SEC West went two and five in bowls last year and yet you come back this season and they’ve still got five ranked teams. So, teams gain credibility by beating these respected SEC teams, and if ASU were to go out and beat A&M it would help their credibility a lot.”

Mandel said if Arizona State, which is a slight underdog according to betting lines, does not win, then at least keeping the game close is a must.

“A lot of people are going to be watching this game,” he added. “Frankly, a lot more people are going to be watching this game than ASU’s Pac-12 games so it is important for them.”

But that’s just one game, and in terms of being a College Football Playoff team, Mandel does not think Todd Graham’s squad will have what it takes. In fact, he picked Ohio State, Texas A&M, TCU and Auburn, leaving the Pac-12 out of the fold altogether.

With six of the conference’s 12 teams ranked in the preseason Top 25 that seems a little harsh, but Mandel has his reasons for shutting out the “Conference of Champions.” Mainly, he thinks the teams — especially in the Pac-12 South, with top-25 USC, UCLA, ASU and Arizona — are too good and will cannibalize themselves.

“I think that’s what’s going to happen. There are five teams in that division that I really like — I hated having to pick any of them fourth or fifth,” he said. “And then a lot of them play very tough non-conference games because that’s what they do in the Pac-12.”

Mandel cited ASU’s Week 1 matchup with A&M along with USC heading to South Bend to face Notre Dame this year and Utah battling Michigan as intriguing, tough matchups. And then, of course, there are those conference games, which will make it tough for any Pac-12 team to emerge as a playoff contender.

“Oregon last year, with a Heisman Trophy winner, they lost a game nobody thought they would to Arizona but were fortunate to run the table from there,” he said. “So I think it’s tough in the Pac-12, but the only thing I can say is last year to me was an abberation.

“I think going forward in the playoff you’re going to have years where two conferences get left out and you’re going to have years where two-loss teams are going to get in. So even if the Pac-12 does eat each other up, if somebody emerges as an 11-2 conference champ they’re not necessarily eliminated from the discussion. There are going to be years where that’s good enough to get in.”

Arizona State Football

...

Arizona Sports Video

Video: What is Bobby Hurley’s future at Arizona State?

On the latest State of the Sun Devil podcast the guys react to the end of men's basketball season, and wonder what the future of the program will be and how the offseason will unfold. Plus, reactions to football's pro day.

3 days ago

ASU football field...

Dan Bickley

Arizona State reaches rock bottom at end of Pac-12 stay

Rock bottom is mostly a metaphor, a cliché for sports teams that have fallen and can’t get up. But you can find it on the map at ASU.

4 days ago

Michael Crow, Arizona State University president...

Kevin Zimmerman

Now would be a good time for Arizona State to hire an athletic director

Who's to make a decision on Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley without an athletic director? Michael Crow must make a decision soon.

4 days ago

ASU QB Drew Pyne...

Arizona Sports

Former ASU starting QB Drew Pyne headed to Missouri

After playing in just two games in his ASU football career, quarterback Drew Pyne is moving on to the Missouri Tigers.

8 days ago

Sparky's Fairway at Mountain America Stadium...

Tyler Drake

Sparky’s Fairway golf takes over Arizona State’s Mountain America Stadium

ASU's Mountain America Stadium is trading in its hash marks for yardage markers as Sparky's Fairway takes center stage beginning Thursday.

11 days ago

...

Arizona Sports Video

Video: What does Arizona State men’s basketball need to do against Bronny James and USC?

On the latest edition of State of the Sun Devils, the guys discuss what Arizona State men's basketball needs to do next.

13 days ago

Mandel: ASU Sun Devils could gain credibility with win over Texas A&M