ASU Football: Who’s the toughest opponents on the schedule?
By Sam Ficarro
ASU football faces a tough schedule in Herm Edwards’ first year in charge. We rank the difficulty of all 12 opponents the Sun Devils will face this season.
The college football season is right around the corner.
With July on the horizon, fall camp is about to begin with Camp Tontozona and Pac-12 Media Days as the two biggest days on the offseason calendar for Arizona State.
Herm Edwards begins his first season as head coach on Sept. 1 against UTSA as the 2018 schedule is among the toughest in the nation.
Among the teams ASU will play include Michigan State, Washington, Stanford, USC, Oregon and in-state rival Arizona.
It’s a gauntlet the Sun Devils will be going through as it’s very possible they might not reach six wins needed to be bowl eligible.
Arizona State will lean on senior quarterback Manny Wilkins to lead the Sun Devils as the team adjusts to a brand new coaching staff.
The Sun Devils will face only two new opponents this season compared to last year. Arizona State will face the aforementioned Roadrunners and Spartans in the first two weeks of the season.
The Pac-12 is expected to be top heavy this season with Washington as the preseason favorites led by quarterback Jake Browning and a defense returning most of its starters.
As has been the case in recent years, the Pac-12 South should be wide open this season with USC going through a transition under center after Sam Darnold was drafted by the New York Jets in the first round.
Some are pegging Arizona as the favorite under first-year head coach Kevin Sumlin with quarterback Khalil Tate among the preseason Heisman favorites.
With that, I’ll rank the difficultly of all 12 opponents beginning with the easiest at No. 12 to the hardest at No. 1. A non-conference opponent begins our rankings.