The regular season is in the books, and it is now on to conference championship weekend. While there are other championship games around the country, the Big 12 championship is, of course, my personal favorite. There was plenty of action to unpack here at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Here is the good, the bad, and the ugly from the Big 12 Championship Game, which Arizona State won 45-19.
The Good
Cam Skattebo Should Be in New York
As good as Cam Skattebo is, I feel like he doesn’t get the respect he deserves nationally. In fact, just a few weeks ago, we saw Desmond Howard act like Arizona State didn’t even deserve to be talked about on College GameDay. And nobody even bothered to bring up Cam Skattebo’s name on that show until recently.
If you have watched this man play at any time this season, then you know what he is capable of. He’s shifty, he’s fast, and he can catch the ball out of the backfield. But my favorite part about him? It’s that he isn’t afraid to lower his shoulder and run over people which feels like a lost art at the running back position.
After today’s game, Cam Skattebo is the leading rusher in the Big 12 Conference. He has been incredible all season long, and I think that he made a case for himself to, at the very least, get an invitation to New York City for the Heisman ceremony. He literally ran his way into the Heisman conversation.
From Worst to First
I want to give credit to the Arizona State Sun Devils and head coach Kenny Dillingham. They were picked to finish dead last back in the Big 12 preseason poll. Dead last. Nobody gave this team a chance and all they did was prove everyone wrong each and every single week.
Quarterback Sam Leavitt emerged as a great young quarterback, and Cam Skattebo became a household name. And that defense of theirs seems to be getting better as the year progresses. Against Iowa State, they were by far the more physical team on both sides of the ball. And to do what they did without their best receiver, Jordyn Tyson, was incredible.
Hats off to coach Dillingham and his staff at Arizona State. He has done a phenomenal job in Tempe and is quickly becoming one of the best coaches not just in the Big 12 but in all of college football. Now this team will get a chance to prove more people wrong when they get their opportunity in the College Football Playoff. All I know is that I wouldn’t count this team out just yet.
The Bad
Iowa State’s Defense
One thing you could count on this season was Iowa State playing great defense. Sure, they had their hiccups here and there, but considering the fact that they were down to playing walk-on freshmen linebackers and backups in the secondary, they did about as good as one could ask.
But on Saturday afternoon inside AT&T Stadium, they finally broke. Arizona State’s Cam Skattebo ran all over Iowa State’s defense from start to finish. The Cyclones gave up 245 yards on the ground and simply had no answer for Arizona State’s rushing attack. The tackling was bad, and it didn’t help they let quarterback Sam Leavitt have several key runs inside the red zone. What we watched in the Big 12 title game was not the typical Iowa State defense.
The Ugly
The Playoff Committee
I wanted to save this for last because I have an issue with the way the playoff committee has handled Boise State. The Broncos were ranked several spots ahead of both Iowa State and Arizona State last Tuesday. My question is, why? What on earth has Boise State done to be ranked ahead of these two teams? And with Arizona State winning the Big 12 championship game, it gives the Sun Devils another ranked win, which is something Boise State doesn’t have. The best thing about Boise State’s resume is a loss to Oregon early in the season when the Ducks looked like a completely different team. In fact, the week before Oregon played Boise State, they struggled mightily against Idaho in a game they won by just ten points at home.
Arizona State plays in a Power Four conference, and Boise State does not. Both are conference champions, so why should the group of five schools get a bye instead of the power conference champion? If you look at both resumes, there is no comparison. And while Arizona State has one more loss, they played without their starting quarterback for one of those losses, and THEY PLAY IN A POWER FOUR CONFERENCE WHILE BOISE STATE PLAYS IN THE MOUNTAIN WEST.
Arizona State played a much tougher schedule, and the fact that the committee gives the SEC and the Big Ten a pass for that and not the Big 12 is complete bullshit. If the Sun Devils aren’t ranked ahead of the Broncos on Sunday, then we need to seriously change the way the committee ranks these teams.
