DevilsDigest TV: Rapid reaction to the announcement of ASU Football's dates in 2024 Big 12 Schedule

and then hod you're worth um Devil's digest you write for rivals.com tell me a little bit more about your title and your involvement with just being in tune to the Sun Devils sure yeah I've been uh uh the longest tenured Arizona State uh beat writer this I'm going into my 25th year of uh covering uh the Sun Devils and I've been a website uh publisher for all those 25 years and uh needless to say this uh 25th year is definitely a special one with Arizona State embarking on a new uh that's called the Big 12 Conference yeah and so I I think this is good all around I think the Big 12 Conference you know especially in basketball is just awesome and now it just seems like the biggest strongest conference you know with u OFA get the best recruits asus's got the caliber to do that as well Texas and Baylor and like they're all just so good but on the football side you could almost make an argument that this is now uh one of the best conferences alongside the SEC so let's go broad first what's your re action to just ASU playing in the Big 12 well look I think uh the Pack 12 has really been a sinking chip for for quite a few years I think the leadership uh both uh from the Commissioners as well as from some of the University presidents and I unfortunately do have to include uh Dr Michael Crow the Arizona State uh president uh in in that realm uh really a filled the the conference as a whole I mean we all know that the Pack 12 network has been uh a fiasco that's uh been in existence and uh coming to a merciful end over here in a few months uh so I think that there's been a lot of um elements in place that really uh prevented the Pack 12 from being on par uh I'm not saying with the SEC because maybe that's Mission Impossible but even being Tred to be on par with a big 10 with an ACC with a big 12 so I think uh the Pack 12 uh dissolving really was a matter of when uh not if obviously the LA schools uh had the opening uh firing shot a couple years ago when they announced uh going to the big 10 and I think uh ever since then uh as I mentioned the Fate was really inevitable and uh last August uh it uh definitely came uh to a conclusion with uh Arizona State along with Utah Arizona and Colorado going to the big 12 other teams going to the big 10 to the ACC but uh the Pack 12 is no more yeah and last thing before about the past before we go onward and upward To The Future Is there any like ah I'm going to miss that match up between USC UCLA obviously UFA is still in the mix and that won't that's the important one in my mind but is there any sort of like I'm Gonna Miss This about the Pack 12 yeah I mean but I think when I talk to fans uh They're Not Really Gonna Miss trips let's say to Corvalis and pman uh Los Angeles obviously is is always is always a fun trip sead all is too in in that vein so I think it's really kind of mix of bad Goods as far as far as uh the road games that ASU fans are not going to go uh to right now I had some ASU fans that uh already knew the uh big tail schedule not so much as dates but just as the teams that ASU is going to play away and they said well there's not really a road game that I'm looking forward to uh maybe Cincinnati if I do uh a detour uh to uh Kentucky at some point but uh otherwise I think it's just really a period of adjustment uh for ASU fans and like I said some road games in the Pack 12 will be missed more than others all right so the schedule came out about a half hour before we hopped on this call give me your first knee-jerk reaction as to the games to circle on your calendar the things I notice are first home game at Mountain America Stadium which still sounds weird coming off my tongue like that is Kansas the other games to consider are let's see Kansas um and then thinking about the road game at Boon picking Stadium what else jumps off the page to you well I say first of all two by weeks uh for Arizona State it's definitely been a while uh since the sundevils did have that in their schedule and now then you add a Friday game on top of that I don't think ASU ever had a schedule to had two by- weeks and a Friday uh game now the Friday game is going to be at home against Utah so I think that is advantageous uh in that sense and they also play Kansas uh the week before at home so uh even dealing with a short week uh when it's coming off a home game that's uh always uh easier to navigate I think than coming off a a long road trip um I think the fact that uh asu's Second by week is after a game against uh Cincinnati which uh miles wise I think is going to be the longest road trip uh for the sundevil so you can talk about uh the biwe also coming at at an opportune time uh you definitely have some Irene over here where is he was going to play Oklahoma State for the third straight year obviously the first two games were just a part of a home and home series with the contract that was signed years and years before before there was even ever any thought for ASU ENT entering the Big 12 but that is uh definitely unique ASU played at Boon picking stadium in Still Water just two years ago in 2022 so now they make our return trip over there uh when you talk about the territorial cup I know some folks really do like the Friday after than Thanksgiving schedule however this is going to be a Saturday after Thanksgiving uh matchup in in in Tucson so uh those those are some of the game those are some of I'm sorry the uh the aspects of the schedule that they they really Jump by right at you but I think uh really the overlying theme is US seeing a lot of teams on this schedule maybe aside from Oklahoma State ironically that uh ASU fans are not accustomed to seeing and so uh definitely going to be an adjustment uh period over there for those that still want to hang on to the Pack 12 I appreciate you bringing up the travel um Cincinnati's the furthest go at it yeah um further than BYU too where is BYU by is in Provo Utah it's about an hour away from Salt Lake City so that's that's a that's a cup of coffee for they're flying you know what I mean yeah to most of these U and then the last week again is U OFA do you see any big 12 teams out there that would kind of I guess we kind of have to see what happens on the grid iron before we making a judge judgment but do you do you see any teams out there that say you know what I can see this one being a new rival yeah that's a interesting question I mean I would I would point to BYU uh I just feel that this is a team that ASU played uh quite a bit in in their wack days uh did play uh at uh BYU in 2021 we're supposed to host BYU in 2020 and obviously because of the co season we're not able to do that so yes I think that BYU has a a very big uh Following over here uh with uh the uh immense Mormon community in the Valley of the Sun so absolutely BYU in terms of a new rival uh that that is first and foremost the the team that I would point to First really hard to talk about rivales for team teams from Texas uh from Kansas let alone Cincinnati as far as developing of being Rivals uh I know some uh fans would uh disagree that Utah's arrival of ASU but I always thought that those meetings were the most ones second only to the territorial cup obviously so that is a A continuing rival uh if you will uh I know ASU doesn't play Colorado this year but uh we'll play them uh uh in 2025 and in years to come as part of the Big 12 schedule and I think with all the hoopla over there with Deion Sanders as the head coach uh maybe everybody's Colorado's rival at this point but uh yeah I think that that BYU as far as a new Big 12 rival uh is a team that really jumps right at you and again there is some history uh between the both programs all the way back uh The Wack days in the 70s and 80s so that's good insight for those fans like my wife who got her undergraduate and master's degree where we met in Waco Texas over for Baylor or for me who uh didn't get into the University of Houston for that's okay but uh my ACT score but tell me for those fans who want to see those games at ASU you know um when can you expect that because you're not going to play every this is a huge conference now you're not going to play those teams every year yeah that there's going to be a a rotation between the teams so teams like Baylor and Colorado that ASU is not playing this year they're they're going to play in 20125 or the latest at 2026 needless to say that the the territorial cup is going to be a yearly event so uh no ASU fan has to worry about uh skipping Arizona that's simply not going to happen I was a little surprised uh when the teams were announced uh on on the schedule back in November there were no dates back then obviously but that ASU was going to skip uh Colorado so it looks like uh the Big 12 uh is uh open to the uh possibility and probably will continue to do so that uh the four pack 12 teams that migrated uh don't necessarily have to play each other each and every year obviously AFU is going to play Arizona every year and I would assume also Utah and Colorado is going to play each other every year although that rivalry is forced one as uh fans from both teams are going to tell you it's nothing like a not nothing like a teritorial cup matchup but uh yeah I think uh that there there's going to have to be a rotation look I mean there a 16 team conference for the first time ever even in Big 12 history so uh there's just a lot of adjustments to do you know I think in basketball is easier just because it's a much longer season than football but football you are going to skip uh some teams and uh now it's really up to uh the uh schedule Gods uh you skipping a team at a good at a good time or a bad time you know a lesser extent that did happen with ASU when they always skipped uh two teams from the uh what used to be the North Division of the Pack 12 and sometimes you think a Shucks I wish I had team a or Team B on my schedule this year instead of skipping them because they really are um a bad team this year and oh my gosh I wish I missed you know this team on the schedule because they're playing lights out so I suspect there's going to be some reactions like that with a big a big big 12 schedule but again you got a 16 team conference there are a lot of elements to navigate and skipping uh teams uh each and every year um to the the L to the shagrin of uh fans that's going to be an ongoing phenomenon um you're really insiteful guy and I'm glad to have your contact I have two last questions for you one's a personal one but we'll get to that Kenny deing first year was last year he's a sha rail coach correct Kenny uh it was was it was part of the chapparel high school uh staff uh before it came to the ASU staff I would say around 2012 2013 yeah I felt like at every turn that he was trying to say and do the right thing and talking with ASU fans despite what the record show they were really happy with him and that surprised me and it shows great loyalty I've always long thought that ASU could be you know a Texas they could be a UT a Florida you know if they if they had the right pieces you saw what happened to Colorado they beat TCU they shocked the world didn't go out the way they did you know the rest of the season but it was still really fun um and if that could happen in Colorado it could definitely happen in the glistening City at Tempe so tell me what your thought and reaction was on Kenny Dillingham and what we can expect for the Sun Devils going into this brand new season in the Big 12 look uh I think aside from a football coach just really having um all the traits that you're looking for in a football coach you also have that intangible of him being an alumnus and I think that as enthusiastic as a football coach may or may not be when he is going to coach as alma mater ultimately that's I think just puts it at a at a much different plane and the fact that you know he did he was very emotional in his introductory press conference that was anything but fake and you know and I know there's some cynics out there that that might think differently but but trust me Kenny Dillingham is somebody who wears his hearts hard on his sleeve maybe sometimes to you know to to his detriment and I think he he did admit that as far as you know some of the rookie mistakes that you make as a first year head coach but nonetheless I think his his emotion his commitment to his alma mater that is something that you wouldn't get from any other head coach that that would come and replace Herm Edwards and I think that the Herm Edwards era I mean not to really belabor you know that uh that period in ASC football was an ERA that the as football fans really wanted to put in the review mirror as distant as possible and I think when you have a coach in the caliber of Kenny Dillingham in terms what he brings to the table in terms of his like I said intangibles his connection to the valley his connection to the program uh that is exactly what the doctor had ordered in terms of really energizing the fan base or as Kenny would say AC activate the valley so I think Kenny Dillingham ever since he got hired he's saying he's saying all the right things and more importantly he's doing all right things and uh I don't think that a lot of fans are really dismayed by the three three and9 record I mean they know that it was just a season that uh the program had to take a lot of lumps and and and surely they did but uh they definitely see uh you know rder Horizons ahead uh now now going to the big 12 and look I mean I don't want to you know belittle a conference that I honestly don't know a whole lot more I'm learning like everybody else but I would say that the Pack 12 uh was a juggernaut compared to compared to the Big 12 last year and and I don't know if the Big 12 uh this season even with editions like Utah Colorado and UV is now just going to be a murder row over a schedule like the Pack 12 was last year for Arizona State and a lot of other teams for that matter so um I think that Kenny Dillingham uh is definitely the right right person for the job I think he's done a great job a great job in terms of his additions whether it's from the recruiting uh class whether it's from the transfer portal and I think that there is a genuine excitement from this sundevil base fan that they have one of their own if you will Co coaching the team right now so last thing for you all these changes to the Big 12 for the longest tenur beat rep reporter for the Devils how does this change your job uh a lot more travel a lot more frequent flyer miles and hotel hotel rooms uh which uh you know can can can can really cut both ways but look I think I'm excited uh just uh you know learning about new teams you know seeing parts of the country more often than I did uh you know I was there to cover the the game at uh at Texas Tech at LC I think it was back in in 2016 uh you know so that's not foreign territory again Oklahoma State BYU uh those are Road games uh that uh you know big beat Riders and fans uh just made in the last few years but yeah I just think just really get getting getting to learn um you know you know different teams and more importantly just really interacting with a more passionate fan base and I think the ASU ASU fan base can be plenty passionate and maybe they feel now that they really have to up their game because you know again not not to be a dead horse with a Pack 12 but I think when you just look at the fan base collectively of that conference uh it was the passionless passionless uh fan fan base if that's a word uh compared to the other power five conferences the Big 12 uh simply put Jordan you you have to bring your aame uh when it comes to the passion when it comes to the support and I think that uh when you have the Rabbid uh fan bases of Texas Tech of of Oklahoma State you know in other years uh teams like Baylor I just think that ASU fans are really uh going to feel that they really have to up their game and really just match uh match that passion you know there aren't uh really any uh crazy um uh long road games you know except Cincinnati this year and you know probably UCF and West Virginia in the years to come and I think somebody actually charted it and said that uh traveling to Seattle or Coralis wasn't a whole lot further away believe it or not from Orlando or West Virginia so so I think ASU fans uh probably looking forward to it uh again last thing I I'll say about the Pack 12 a lot of fans were just ready to move on and I think uh that uh excitement is really going to uh really just invigorate this fan base along with the head coach uh that is uh doing I think a good job turning around the program and now in a new conference uh realizing uh that uh you do have to match the energy of other the fan bases I think it'd be a fun time for ASU football