Arizona State sneaks into Week 13 College Football Playoff rankings

Don't look now but Arizona State football is back on the College Football Playoff radar.

The Sun Devils heard their name called at No. 25 when the selection committee released it's latest rankings entering Week 13 on Tuesday night.

After ASU survived a Homecoming week scare against West Virginia, the committee must've noticed that the Sam Leavitt-less and Jordyn Tyson-less team is still very much in the hunt to defend its Big 12 title with just two weeks left to play in the regular season.

ASU plays Colorado on Saturday and then, of course, there's the all-important Territorial Cup clash against Arizona. If the Devils take care of business in both contests, they'll be set up to take the back door route to Dallas if Texas Tech or BYU lose just once. That would open up a potential five-way tie for second and then the Big 12's convoluted tie breakers come into play.

Arizona State's surprise CFP ranking means more than meets the eye

Coming back down to Earth for just a moment, it's still unlikely ASU sneaks back into the Big 12 title game this year. However, with two very winnable games left on the schedule, entering the rankings now (especially when falling short in the AP Top 25) sets up the program to have its choice of a premier bowl game.

With ASU still attached to the Pac-12's legacy when it comes to bowl affiliation, that would leave the Devils with one of two landing spots if they finish 9-3: The Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl or the Holiday Bowl.

Not only that, ASU could find itself ranked relatively higher than No. 25 once the season ends and that would bode really well for head coach Kenny Dillingham's ability to sell the program while recruiting. Despite not being able to retain the conference title, he can point to a success story like Jeff Sims as reason for any top recruit to believe this was less of a regression year and more of a proving last year was no fluke season.

There's a lot for fans to be proud of and continue to activate the valley as the Devils finish out the year. This surprise ranking is just one reason among many.