Last Monday, the Preseason Coaches Poll was released, and Arizona State led all Big 12 teams. They came in at No. 11, with No. 20 Kansas State the next conference foe on the list. While the gap between those two isn't as drastic, the AP's recently released Preseason Top 25 pays similar respects to the Sun Devils.
BREAKING: ASU is No. 11 in the preseason AP Top 25, highest in the Big 12. pic.twitter.com/7tpBwhZqsl
— Chris Karpman (@ChrisKarpman) August 11, 2025
Just like the coaches, the Associated Press has Arizona State as the 11th best team in college football going into the year. That's not entirely surprising, since the Sun Devils were seventh in last year's final College Football Playoff rankings and they return the most starters of any team in the nation.
The 10 teams ahead of the Sun Devils are the same, too, though with a little different order than the Coaches Poll. Seven of these teams reached the College Football Playoff alongside Arizona State.
Once again, the Sun Devils lead all Big 12 schools in these rankings. However, Kansas State cracked the top 20 this time, coming in at No. 17. Iowa State remains at No. 22, while Texas Tech is at No. 23 in this poll. BYU, who was ranked 23rd by the coaches, just missed the cut as the top "Receivng Votes" team.
Other Big 12 programs to receive votes but otherwise miss the Top 25 are Utah, Baylor, TCU, and Colorado. The Utes and Bears were right behind BYU in that category, while TCU and Colorado received a combined five votes between them.
None of these come as much of a surprise. The Sun Devils are the team to beat in the Big 12, and rightfully so. If anything, this poll makes it even more confusing that Kansas State remains the betting favorite in the conference.
Who knows better between the pollsters and the oddsmakers? Only time will tell.