Arizona State appears on latest College Football Playoff rankings

Arizona State came in at No. 21 on Tuesday’s College Football Playoff rankings, the program’s first appearance on the list since 2014 and another piece of evidence for how far this team has come in coach Kenny Dillingham’s second season.

The Sun Devils are one of four Big 12 squads ranked by the CFP committee, joining BYU (No. 14), Colorado (No. 16) and Iowa State (No. 22).

The CFP poll has DROPPED 🚨📊

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Arizona State also placed No. 21 on the latest AP top 25 poll after defeating then-No. 16 Kansas State Saturday evening. The program had not been ranked in the top 25 since 2021.

This year is the first for the 12-team playoff bracket, which expanded from four teams. The five highest-ranked conference champions and seven highest-ranked teams remaining will make the tournament. The reveal is on Dec. 8 and the first round is Dec. 20-21.

Undefeated Oregon received top billing and Ohio State stayed at No. 2, one spot ahead of SEC co-leader Texas. Miami of the ACC was ranked eighth but gets the third seed and a bye that goes to the top four ranked conference leaders.

Boise State of the Mountain West was ranked 12th by the committee but was slotted into that fourth and final bye, leaving BYU out of that mix.

BYU gets the last spot in the 12-team bracket as the fifth-best conference leader. That bumps out No. 11 Tennessee, which lost to Georgia last week and now takes the first team out spot.

ASU hosts BYU on Saturday in a critical matchup for each team’s CFP chances. The Sun Devils are 5-2 in conference play, while BYU is tied for first place with a 6-1 record.

In 2014, ASU reached as high as No. 6 on the CFP rankings and finished at No. 15 on selection day. The Sun Devils under Todd Graham went on to win the Sun Bowl.

There are three more weeks of rankings to go.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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