Coming off a Big 12 championship in its first year in the league, the Arizona State football program is seemingly on the rise.
The Sun Devils return most of their key players, besides Cam Skattebo who is now with the New York Giants, but one publication sees them falling to fifth in a preseason Big 12 ranking.
Opta Analyst used their TRACR data collector to determine the middling ranking for coach Kenny Dillingham and ASU.
Who ranks ahead of Arizona State?
ASU falls in line behind Kansas State, Baylor, Kansas and Texas Tech.
The system projects ASU to have the fourth-best offense in the conference and seventh-best defense.
By comparison, the preseason USA Today coaches poll has the Sun Devils ranked No. 11 in the country, the highest ranking of any team in the Big 12.
Kansas State is the the next highest at No. 20, followed by Iowa State (t-No. 21), BYU (No. 23) and Texas Tech (No. 24).
Iowa State and BYU come in at No. 8 and No. 7, respectively in the Opta Analyst preseason ranking.
The disparity shows that the conference is wide open, once again.
Last season, the Sun Devils won the conference championship after being ranked last in the conference’s preseason coaches poll.
The Big 12 ended that poll this season.
What is the TRACR system?
TRACR stands for Team Rating Adjusted for Competition and Roster.
It’s described as a net efficiency metric that compares teams on a play-by-play basis.
It also accounts for strength of schedule and roster turnover.
The program ranked ASU No. 2 in the Big 12 at the end of last season, behind only Kansas State who finished tied for 8th in the actual conference standings.
