Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 37. Arizona State
Pat Tillman and Jake the Snake
We have our 8th ranked team in the Pac-12. While I feel like Arizona State should be higher in the Pac-12 ranking given their seemingly consistent success over the last 4 decades, #37 overall is a good spot for them. ASU’s been pretty successful ever since moving up to Division 1-A in 1931, having gone 27-3-1 from 1955-57 under CFB Hall of Fame coach Dan Devine, and 43-4 from 1970-73 under the best coach in school history, Frank Kush. Not to mention, in 40 of the last 55 seasons, Arizona State has appeared in the AP Top 25 at some point. If this list was on the last 50 years, ASU’s almost surely a top 30 team, if not top 25.
Best Seasons and Highlights
+------+---------------+------+--------------+--------+
| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+---------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 5 | Arizona State | 1996 | 43.701 | 11-1 |
| 4 | Arizona State | 1986 | 39.521 | 10-1-1 |
| 16 | Arizona State | 2013 | 30.014 | 10-4 |
| 16 | Arizona State | 2014 | 26.442 | 10-3 |
| 13 | Arizona State | 2004 | 24.332 | 9-3 |
| 19 | Arizona State | 2007 | 21.335 | 10-3 |
| 16 | Arizona State | 1997 | 21.204 | 9-3 |
| 26 | Arizona State | 1985 | 12.998 | 8-4 |
| 30 | Arizona State | 1987 | 8.15 | 7-4-1 |
| 35 | Arizona State | 2019 | 6.631 | 8-5 |
| 40 | Arizona State | 2012 | 6.406 | 8-5 |
| 31 | Arizona State | 2005 | 5.105 | 7-5 |
| 32 | Arizona State | 1993 | 3.145 | 6-5 |
| 39 | Arizona State | 1983 | 3.041 | 6-4-1 |
| 39 | Arizona State | 1995 | 3.004 | 6-5 |
| 47 | Arizona State | 2017 | 0.859 | 7-6 |
| 50 | Arizona State | 2021 | -0.226 | 8-5 |
| 42 | Arizona State | 1989 | -0.654 | 6-4-1 |
| 51 | Arizona State | 2020 | -0.987 | 2-2 |
| 53 | Arizona State | 2018 | -1.358 | 7-6 |
| 41 | Arizona State | 1992 | -1.53 | 6-5 |
| 52 | Arizona State | 2002 | -2.455 | 8-6 |
| 48 | Arizona State | 1988 | -4.052 | 6-5 |
| 53 | Arizona State | 2006 | -4.097 | 7-6 |
| 54 | Arizona State | 2011 | -4.235 | 6-7 |
| 56 | Arizona State | 2010 | -5.228 | 6-6 |
| 61 | Arizona State | 2015 | -6.264 | 6-7 |
| 47 | Arizona State | 1991 | -6.312 | 6-5 |
| 55 | Arizona State | 1984 | -6.804 | 5-6 |
| 59 | Arizona State | 2000 | -8.123 | 6-6 |
| 56 | Arizona State | 1999 | -8.211 | 6-6 |
| 55 | Arizona State | 1998 | -10.793 | 5-6 |
| 72 | Arizona State | 2008 | -16.005 | 5-7 |
| 63 | Arizona State | 1990 | -16.248 | 4-7 |
| 76 | Arizona State | 2003 | -19.092 | 5-7 |
| 79 | Arizona State | 2001 | -21.252 | 4-7 |
| 86 | Arizona State | 2016 | -21.433 | 5-7 |
| 83 | Arizona State | 2009 | -22.58 | 4-8 |
| 80 | Arizona State | 1994 | -27.358 | 3-8 |
| 108 | Arizona State | 2022 | -29.316 | 3-9 |
+------+---------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 24000 (37th)261-209-4 record
3 conference titles
8-13 bowl record
11 consensus All-Americans
124 NFL players drafted
You probably notice a LOT of 5 to 7 win seasons. That’s mostly how I’ve remembered Arizona State, who has 22 out of 40 seasons with 5-7 wins. But they’ve rarely been BAD, with only 2 seasons with less than 4 wins (not counting the 2-2 2020 season), and only 5 seasons with less than 5 wins. How about Herm Edwards? His first 4 years (2018-21) ranked 20th, 10th, 19th, and 17th, before setting up the program to fall off a cliff in 2022 with their worst season in the last 40 years. It was actually ASU’s worst season since 1946 if we’re going past the timeframe of the series. I’m surprised the 2007 season, where they were #6 at one point and finished with 10 wins, didn’t crack the top 5, but I had them ranked 19th that season compared to the AP Poll’s 16th. Consensus All-Americans we won’t talk about below are K Luis Zendejas (1983) from the famous Zendejas kicking family, DB David Fulcher (1984, 1985), DL Terrell Suggs (2002) who set an NCAA record with 24 sacks in a season, and TE Zach Miller (2006) who started over 100 games in the NFL. Plenty more to talk about below. Top NFL players include Hall of Fame OG Randall McDaniel, LB Terrell Suggs, DB Darren Woodson, QB Jake Plummer, LB Vontaze Burfict, TE Todd Heap, and WR Brandon Aiyuk.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2022 (3-9 overall, 2-7 Pac-12)
“Firm for Herm” was starting to run its course after a disappointing end to 2021 (#50 finish in my rankings despite a #25 preseason AP ranking), ongoing NCAA investigation into the program, and key players entering the transfer portal (QB Jayden Daniels to LSU, WR Johnny Wilson to Florida State, LB Eric Gentry to USC). The media took notice, ranking ASU 3rd to last in the Pac-12 for 2022, and it didn’t take long for Herm to be shown the door, fired after a 1-2 start that included a 21-30 home loss to Eastern Michigan where EMU’s RB had 36 carries for 258 yards and 1 TD. Interim Shaun Aguano took over for the rest of the season and didn’t do any better, with ASU finishing the year 3-9 with wins over #21 Washington (somehow) and 1-11 Colorado. Like in the preseason predictions, they finished tied for 3rd to last in the Pac-12. There weren’t many bright spots, but P Eddie Czaplicki was 1st Team All-Pac 12, averaging 46.1 yards per punt, and RB Xazavian Valladay made the 2nd Team with 1192 rushing yards and 16 TD. The catch? Both are gone this year, with Czaplicki transferring to USC and Valladay graduating. Valladay was a Wyoming transfer, and amassed 4466 rushing yards in his career. But TE Jalin Conyers, who looked like one of the most promising TEs in the country last season, returns, having put up 422 yards and 5 TD.
5. 2004 (9-3 overall, 5-3 Pac-10)
ASU spent most of the season in the Top 25, spurred by a 5-0 start that included a massive 44-7 victory over #16 Iowa in week 3. They had upset on their mind going to #1 USC, but that Trojan team was unstoppable, and ASU lost 7-45. They’d beat UCLA, but run into an also unstoppable #7 Cal team, losing 0-27. ASU went 2-1 in their remaining 3 games, finishing 8-3 and 3rd place in the Pac-12 behind #1 USC and #4 Cal. Starting QB Andrew Walter would miss the Sun Bowl against 7-4 Purdue, but sophomore Sam Keller stepped up in his absence, throwing for 370 yards 3 TD 0 INT and leading a game winning touchdown drive down 20-23 with just 1:15 to go, going 80 yards in 30 seconds to win 27-23. Because ASU had the #1 strength of schedule in the country, I had them finish #13 while the AP Poll had them at #19. Senior QB Andrew Walter left as the school’s all-time passing leader, earning 2nd Team All-Pac 10 with 3150 yards 30 TD 9 INT. WR Derek Hagan was also 2nd Team All-Pac 10 with 1248 receiving yards and 10 TD, and would eventually leave as ASU’s all-time leading receiver. Keller, the hero of the Sun Bowl, would start for ASU in 2005 before transferring to Nebraska and starting for the Huskers in 2007.
4. 2014 (10-3 overall, 6-3 Pac-12)
For a while in the early 2010’s, a little known QB named Taylor Kelly was subtly terrorizing the Pac-12, helping ASU win 28 games from 2012-14. Kelly didn’t “wow” you with his play, but he played well and won games. However in the middle of their 3-1 start, he was injured and backup Mike Bercovicci took over for a few games. Against #16 USC, ASU was down 32-34 with no time left, but a 46 yard Hail Mary to Jaelen Strong pulled off the shocker 38-34, completing a game where Bercovicci had 510 passing yards 5 TD 0 INT. ASU kept knocking off opponents, beating #23 Stanford, Washington on the road, and #17 Utah to improve to 7-1. That set up #9 Arizona State vs #10 Notre Dame in one of the biggest games of the week. It was ASU who’d announce themselves as a dark horse playoff contender, taking a 34-3 lead before giving up 28 straight, before sealing it with 21 points in the last 4:30 to win 55-31. Up to #6 in the country, the regular season wouldn’t end as intended, with an upset loss to 4-5 Oregon State and a loss to rival #11 Arizona on the final week to miss out on the Pac-12 championship game. Facing 9-3 Duke in the Sun Bowl, Kelly rode off into the sunset with a 36-31 win to finish the year 10-3 and #12 overall.
Kelly threw for 22 TD 5 INT while Bercovicci threw 12 TD 4 INT, the two combining for 3559 passing yards 34 TD 9 INT. RB DJ Foster was 2nd Team All-Pac, with 1081 rushing yards and 688 receiving yards. The recipient of the Jael Mary, Jaelen Strong, was an All-American with 82 catches for 1165 yards and 10 TD. DB Damarious Randall did pretty much everything on defense with 106 tackles, 9.5 total TFL, 9 PBU, and 3 INT, earning 1st Team All-Pac 12.
3. 2013 (10-4 overall, 8-1 Pac-12)
Coach Todd Graham was starting to establish himself as one of the better coaches in the conference, having taken ASU from a 15-21 record in the 3 years before his arrival to 6-7, 8-5, and then 10-4. This was actually a pretty memorable team in CFB lore for 2 specific games: Wisconsin and USC. In week 2 against #20 Wisconsin, Wisconsin kneed with 20 seconds left and no timeouts, setting up a game winning 30 yard FG attempt, except they still had to spike the ball because they had no timeouts. For some reason, an ASU player jumped on the dead ball and held it on the ground for multiple seconds without the refs intervening, and the clock ran out on Wisconsin’s chance to spike it, ASU wins 32-30. Just 2 weeks later, ASU would play Lane Kiffin in his final game at USC, beating the Trojans 62-41 which led to Kiffin getting tarmac’d in the early morning after the game. After losing to Notre Dame, ASU would go on an unbeaten streak of 7 games to finish 10-2 and make the Pac-12 Championship game, beating #20 Washington and #14 UCLA in the process. Against #7 Stanford they’d come up short against the Cardinal for the second time in the same year, and lose to Texas Tech in an upset in the Holiday Bowl to finish #21.
ASU ended the year with wins over #22 finisher Wisconsin, #16 UCLA, #19 USC, #25 Washington, 8-5 Arizona, and 7-6 Oregon State, with their only losses to #11 finisher Stanford (twice), #22 Notre Dame, and 8-5 Texas Tech. QB Taylor Kelly was 2nd Team All-Pac 12 with 3635 passing yards 28 TD 12 INT and 608 rushing yards with 9 TD. A two-headed RB system of Marion Grice (the bruiser, 1000 rushing yards 440 receiving) and DJ Foster (the pass catcher, 500 rushing 650 receiving) combined for 2588 yards and 30 TD from scrimmage, with Grice earning 2nd Team All-conference. DT Will Sutton, who was a consensus All-American and Pac-12 Defensive POTY in 2012, repeated as a 1st Team All-American and Pac-12 Defensive POTY in 2013, getting 4 sacks and 9.5 TFL. In the secondary, 3 players made 1st/2nd Team All-Pac 12. K Zane Gonzalez was 1st Team All-Pac 12 as a freshman, hitting 25 of 30 FGs, and would go on to earn consensus All-American honors in his senior year (2016), hitting 23 of 25 FGs, leaving as the 4th all-time scorer in NCAA history with 494 points. Todd Graham won Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
2. 1986 (10-1-1 overall, 5-1-1 Pac-10)
1986 or 1996 as the top team, take your pick. Both are clearly the two best Sun Devil teams of the last 40 years. Future Ohio State coach John Cooper led ASU to their first and only Rose Bowl win, with a talented roster that featured future NFL Hall of Fame OG Randall McDaniel, consensus All-American OT Danny Villa, and 14 players drafted over the next 2 years. ASU was unranked to start the year, but a 20-17 win over #20 Michigan State fixed that, moving them up to #18. A 30-0 win over SMU in the Ponies’ last year before their death penalty moved ASU up to #11, but a tie with eventual 3-7-1 Washington State moved them down to #16. They’d begin their quest for the Rose Bowl in that very same stadium, beating #15 UCLA 15-9, going on to beat #15 USC 29-20, and #6 Washington 34-21. At 9-0-1, Arizona State was #4 and a dark horse national title contender. An upset loss to Arizona eliminated them, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway, as 11-0 Miami (FL) and 11-0 Penn State played each other for the de-facto national title. #7 Arizona State still won the Pac-10, facing #4 Michigan in the Rose Bowl. Down 3-15 early thanks to a Jim Harbaugh rushing TD, Arizona State scored the last 19 points with 2 TD passes from Rose Bowl MVP QB Jeff Van Raaphorst, winning 22-15. ASU finished #4 to complete one of the best seasons in school history.
1986 Arizona State is my 184th best team since 1983.
1. 1996 (11-1 overall, 8-0 Pac-10)
20 seconds. Arizona State was 20 seconds away from winning a national title in 1996. Imagine how differently we’d look at ASU now if they’d accomplished that. In week 3, #1 Nebraska strolled into Tempe as 23 point favorites over #17 Arizona State. Nebraska was the 2-time defending national champion, riding a 26 game winning streak. The game wasn’t even close. ASU, led by LB Pat Tillman on defense, forced 3 safeties and 6 fumbles in a 19-0 shutout of the #1 team in the country, who’d go on to win it all in 1997 for the 3rd time in 4 years. That gave ASU the green light for national title contention, moving up to #6. In a weak Pac-10, ASU’s week 1 win over Washington proved to be the toughest conference opponent all year, going a perfect 8-0 in Pac-10 play with wins like 41-9 over 3rd place Stanford and 56-14 over Arizona in the Duel in the Desert. Entering the Rose Bowl, ASU was 11-0 but only #2, behind 11-0 Florida State. FSU would lose big to Florida in their bowl the day after the Rose Bowl, so in hindsight, ASU’s Rose Bowl game would be for the national title.
ASU entered with an extremely potent offense led by Heisman finalist QB Jake Plummer, averaging 42.9 PPG. The defense was very good as well with Tillman and consensus All-American DL Derrick Rodgers, giving up just 17.8 PPG. In a script that you wouldn’t believe if Hollywood wrote it, Plummer, down 10-14 with less than 5 minutes to go, led a go-ahead TD drive with just 1:40 left to make it 17-14, diving into the end zone and sending the crowd into a frenzy. Needing just one stop, ASU didn’t get it, with Ohio State going on a TD drive of their own, scoring the winning 5 yard TD with just 19 seconds left. Ohio State won 20-17, and Arizona State, who had their shot at finishing #1, ended the season at #4. Plummer was a 1st Team All-American, WR Keith Poole was a 2nd Team All-American, and OL Juan Roque was a consensus All-American. 8 players were taken in the 1997 NFL Draft, and Plummer is still one of the most memorable players in ASU history.
1996 Arizona State is my 123rd best team since 1983.
5th Quarter
Who was better, the 1986 or 1996 team? Do ASU fans look back on that 1996 season and wonder “what if”? Did Jack Plummer deserve the Heisman that year? Why don’t more people talk about that crazy outlier 19-0 win over #1 Nebraska in 1996? What are your thoughts on the 2013/14 Taylor Kelly-Todd Graham teams being in the top 5? Did the 2007 season where ASU got up to #6 deserve to be in? Is the 2022 season actually the worst? Which player/coach/game/moment that I didn’t mention above should I have mentioned, or mentioned more of? Thoughts on ASU’s position at #37 on the list? Which team’s up next?
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