A week ago, we put together our rooting guide for various Big 12 games as Arizona State took care of business against West Virginia. While only one of those scenarios actually ended up working out, it still helped the Sun Devils, who now sit at No. 25 in the College Football Playoff rankings.
Arizona State needs to win out the rest of the way, starting with today's game against Colorado, but they need some help too. Not as much help as they needed a week ago, but still some help. And this week's rooting guide is officially here to help guide Sun Devil fans as they watch other Big 12 games on Saturday.
Baylor over Arizona
This game is the least meaningful of all the ones on this guide, but bear with me. Obviously any Sun Devil fan will root for the Wildcats to lose (though their victory last week did help Arizona State out mightily), but this goes deeper than that.
Arizona State's best shot to reach the Big 12 title game is by ending the regular season tied with at least two other teams for second place, at which point the conference's convoluted tiebreaker rules come into play. In that event, strength of schedule becomes a key factor in breaking multi-team ties.
The Sun Devils will face Arizona next week, but they've already beaten the Bears. Baylor sits at 5-5 right now, and a win would guarantee an even record at worst. The better Baylor does, the better Arizona State's strength of schedule can become in the event that becomes a deciding factor.
Kansas State over Utah
How far the mighty have fallen. Kansas State was the odds-on favorite to win the Big 12 at the start of the year, and here we are in the penultimate week of the regular season with the 5-5 Wildcats unsure if they'll even make a bowl game.
That adds extra motivation this week, as Kansas State travels to face No. 12 Utah. The Utes are tied with Arizona State in the Big 12, though they have the head-to-head tiebreaker over them. That wouldn't matter in a multi-team tie, but it's still a concerning factor if Arizona State finishes tied with Utah, who has a stronger schedule at this point.
One more loss for Utah isn't necessarily paramount, but it would certainly improve the odds for the Sun Devils. Kansas State isn't exactly likely to win this one, but they have won three of their last four and have been playing better of late. Can they pull off the upset and help out the Sun Devils?
TCU over Houston
Houston is in the same vein as Utah, as far as Sun Devil fans are concerned. The Cougars won head-to-head, and that doesn't bode well for Arizona State if they remain tied in conference record at the end of the season. Another loss for Houston would help alleviate any stress for the Sun Devils down the stretch.
The Horned Frogs offer the best hope for that happening. TCU was looking like a contender for a while, sitting at 6-2, but they've lost their past two in a row. Granted, one of those came to a scrappy Iowa State team while the other was No. 11 BYU.
TCU has plenty of talent, led by electric quarterback Josh Hoover. They've stumbled as of late, but they'll undoubtedly be looking to finish the season strong and take their in-state conference foe down with them.
Cincinnati over BYU
This is the big one.
Cincinnati's loss to Arizona last week was big, as it dropped them to the same conference record as Arizona State. That was very necessary, and now the same is necessary for BYU, who sits at 6-1 in the Big 12.
Another loss for the Cougars would guarantee that Arizona State can finish in some sort of tie for second at worst as long as they win the remainder of their games. That obviously makes this game, which kicks off at the same time as the Sun Devils' clash with the Buffaloes, of great importance.
Cincinnati was once one of the most dominant teams in college football, winning seven straight before falling to Utah and then Arizona. Can they recapture that magic when they host BYU? Last week was their first home loss all year, and they'll surely want to avoid another.
All eyes will be on this score while Arizona State duels with Coach Prime and his Buffaloes.