ASU Football: Devils to face Fresno State in Vegas Bowl

Following a 7-5 regular season, it was announced Sunday that ASU football will play in the Las Vegas Bowl against Fresno State.

It’s official: Arizona State is going bowling. The Sun Devils announced Sunday that they’ll appear in the 2018 Las Vegas Bowl against Fresno State.

Bowl eligibility was clinched in Week 11 when ASU took down UCLA on Senior Day. Since then, the Sun Devils are 1-1, and most recently, defeated Arizona in the Territorial Cup game.

The Sun Devils’ were selected to the Vegas Bowl because of Cal’s 23-13 loss to Stanford. This made ASU the No. 6 team in the Pac-12, which made it a perfect fit for the game.

But Arizona State’s opponent is no slouch.

Fresno State is 11-2 this season and fresh off a Mountain West Championship game victory over Boise State. In the final College Football Playoff rankings, the Bulldogs are No. 21 in the nation.

In addition to the Boise State win, Fresno State also defeated UCLA, Nevada and San Diego State over the course of the season. Fresno State’s only losses came at the hands of Minnesota and Boise State in the regular season.

One of the Bulldogs’ key players is quarterback Marcus McMaryion. A senior, McMaryion has thrown for 3,453 yards and 25 touchdowns while completing 69.9 percent of his passes. He’s also thrown just three picks this year.

Arizona State is 3-0 against Fresno State all time, but the two schools haven’t played in some time. In the last matchup between the schools, 1941, ASU won 26-7.

The last time ASU made the Las Vegas Bowl, on the other hand, was just seven years ago. It didn’t go well.

A 6-6 ASU team was routed by a one-loss Boise State squad that cruised to a 56-24 victory.

This year’s edition of the Las Vegas will come on the first day of bowl season — Saturday, Dec. 15. There will be five other games that day, but only the Las Vegas Bowl will feature a Pac-12 team.