Big 12 discontinues football preseason poll after ASU’s surprise title run

Arizona State football won the Big 12 Championship after being picked to finish last in the conference, a worst-to-first run that may never be seen again.

The Big 12 athletic directors and coaches discontinued the preseason poll voted on by media members ahead of the conference’s upcoming July 8-9 media days, according to Action Network’s Brett McMurphy.

Preseason all-league teams will still be named, McMurphy added.

The Arizona Wildcats finished 14th out of 16 after they were picked to finish fifth with three first-place votes, while ASU storming up from the low projection continued a conference-wide trend for two of the previous three seasons.

Texas (2023) was the only Big 12 team in the last four seasons to win the conference after receiving any amount of first-place votes before the year.

Kansas State won the title in 2022 after it was picked to finish fifth, and Baylor won in 2021 after it was picked eighth.

While it isn’t unusual for the conference to see an unexpected run like Arizona State’s, it became a major narrative as the Sun Devils made their push for the College Football Playoff, eventually getting in with the help of the conference title.

Many argued Arizona State was unable to jump Boise State in the playoff order and into the Fiesta Bowl because of preseason rankings, which had the Broncos just three spots outside the top 25, while the Sun Devils were nowhere to be seen. ASU was ranked seventh in the final AP poll, one spot ahead of Boise State.

Similar points were made about national perception catching up to Cam Skattebo as a Heisman candidate, but not quickly enough to be a finalist due to his absence from preseason radars.

The Big Ten is the only other conference without a preseason poll.

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