Editor’s note: Sixth in a series previewing each team in the Big 12 in 2026.
Outside of Texas Tech and BYU, a case could be made that the most consistent and successful football program in the Big 12 the past two seasons has been Arizona State.
Two years ago, the Sun Devils defeated Iowa State 45-19 in the Big 12 championship game, made the College Football Playoffs, and came within a whisker of upsetting Texas in the quarterfinals before falling 39-31 in double overtime.
Last year, ASU struggled with injuries — particularly to quarterback Sam Leavitt — but still finished 6-3 in the Big 12, 8-5 overall.
That said, it is somewhat surprising to see that not much is expected of fourth-year ASU coach Kenny Dillingham’s crew in 2026, at least in relation to hopes for the Red Raiders and Cougars. In a preseason poll of beat writers — one for each of the 16 teams in the league — conducted by Berry Tramel of the Tulsa World, Arizona State was picked to finish seventh.
Dillingham, one of the more vocal and brash coaches in the conference, said at Big 12 football media days earlier this month that he could not care less about expectations from the outside. But he said the Sun Devils will keep receipts, perhaps using the apparent snub as motivation.
“Watch us. We’re tough. We’re physically and mentally tough. We respond to adversity,” he said. “When bad things happen, we respond. We don’t get too high. We don’t get too low. That’s the No. 1 thing, other than the little things like owning the ball and all that stuff that everybody has to do to win.”
Other reasons for the lack of respect the Sun Devils are getting:
• Leavitt entered the transfer portal in the offseason and landed at big-bucks LSU, leaving ASU to scramble for a legitimate QB1. Dillingham brought in Kentucky’s Cutter Boley, who started in 11 games for the Wildcats as a redshirt freshman in 2025, going 4-7 in those games.
“Yeah, I recruited him to Oregon when I was (an assistant) there, and I just remember he was a really good athlete,” Dillingham said. “People don’t give him enough credit for his athleticism. He was a good basketball player (in high school). … When he went in the portal, us watching his tape really quickly, I remembered who he was, and I remembered a lot about him. He was someone I knew I wanted to target from the beginning.”
• Arizona State has a brutal conference schedule, which begins with the longest road trip in program history. The Sun Devils will meet Kansas on Sept. 19 at Wembley Stadium in London, a week after playing at the SEC’s Texas A&M on Sept. 12.
“Yeah, it is definitely a challenge,” Dillingham said. “I told our team the biggest challenge for us this year is managing the schedule, going on the road to A&M and then going straight to London in Week 3.”
Like BYU, ASU will be idle the weekend of Sept. 26, then have to play nine straight games. As the Deseret News deduced in a ranking of the toughest schedules in the Big 12, the Devils have a favorable group of home games, but many of their most difficult games will be on the road.
For instance, they have to play at Texas Tech on Oct. 17 and at BYU on Oct. 31.
“I wanted to do the London game because college football is, at the end of the day, still about these players,” Dillingham said. “It is still about 18- to 22-year-olds and their experience in college and the memories they make, hopefully good memories.”
• Arizona State is having to replace a lot of starters on both sides of the ball. High roster turnover is a fact of life in this day and age of college football, but the Sun Devils were hit extra hard.
To compensate, Dillingham brought in the No. 15-ranked transfer portal class, per 247Sports, including the country’s top-ranked receiver transfer class.
If Boley comes along as expected, watch out for ASU’s offense. The headliner could be Colorado transfer receiver Omarion Miller, Reed Harris from Boston College, or Raiden Vines-Bright from Washington.
At running back, Kyson Brown returns at full strength after suffering a season-ending injury in 2025, and a lot is expected out of Delaware transfer Marquis Gillis, who rushed for 1,100 yards at the FCS level last year.
“I expect that (receivers) room to be dynamic. I expect that room to force people to lean safeties into the pass game, to change coverages,” Dillingham said. “I expect some of those guys to force teams to play them with more than one person. … We are looking for those guys to change the math in the box so guys like Kyson can run the rock.”
Of note for BYU fans when ASU visits Provo on Halloween: Arizona State assistant wide receivers coach Trenton Bourguet is the brother of BYU backup QB Treyson Bourguet.
Also, ASU’s offensive line is expected to be stellar, with Georgia Tech transfer Tana Alo-Tupuola at center and Oklahoma transfer Luke Baklenko at guard. Former West High star Rob Lapuaho is in the running to start as well. He’s the younger brother of former BYU standout Ului Lapuaho, who played for the Cougars from 2014-18, bridging the tenures of Bronco Mendenhall and Kalani Sitake.
Arizona State Sun Devils at a glance
- 2025 record: 8-5 (6-3 in Big 12)
Utah ties
- Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Rob Lapuaho is from West Valley City and prepped at West High; his brother, Ului Lapuaho, played for BYU from 2014-18.
- ASU assistant wide receivers coach Trenton Bourguet is the brother of BYU quarterback Treyson Bourguet.
2026 schedule
- Sept. 5: vs. Morgan State
- Sept. 12: at Texas A&M
- Sept. 19: vs. Kansas at London
- Oct. 3: vs. Baylor
- Oct. 10: vs. Hawaii
- Oct. 17: at Texas Tech
- Oct. 24: vs. Kansas State
- Oct. 31: at BYU
- Nov. 7: vs. Colorado
- Nov. 14: at UCF
- Nov. 21: vs. Oklahoma State
- Nov. 28: at Arizona