The first game of 2025 will happen in Atlanta as a former Big 12 team in its first year in the SEC will meet a former Pac-12 team in its first year in the Big 12. Got all that? Welcome to the 2024 College Football Playoff.

[More CFP: Ohio State vs. Oregon | Boise State vs. Penn State | Notre Dame vs. Georgia]

Date: Jan. 1 | Time: Noon ET | TV: ESPN | Line: Texas -12.5 | Total: 51.5

How these teams got here

Texas: The Longhorns took down No. 12 Clemson 38-24 by running over, around and through the Tigers. Jaydon Blue’s 77-yard TD put the Tigers away in the fourth quarter as Texas rushed 46 times for 295 yards ahead of the kneeldowns it took to end the game.

Arizona State: The Sun Devils are the Big 12 champions in a season that came out of nowhere. After a lackluster final season in the Pac-12 during Kenny Dillingham’s inaugural year with the team, ASU surged in the second half of 2024. ASU has won six straight games after a 24-14 loss at Cincinnati on Oct. 19. The wins included victories over Kansas State, BYU and then Iowa State in the Big 12 title game.

How the QBs stack up

Sam Leavitt transferred to Arizona State after playing four games as a freshman at Michigan State in 2023. He won the starting job over Jeff Sims before the season and has emerged as an effective passer in his first full season as a starter. Leavitt as 192-of-304 passing for 2,663 yards and 24 TDs with just five interceptions. He’s also rushed for 383 yards and five touchdowns.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers was 17-of-24 passing for 202 yards with a TD and an interception against the Tigers on Dec. 21. Ewers has thrown for 2,867 yards in 2024 and is completing 67% of his passes.

Players to watch

Texas WR Isaiah Bond: The Alabama transfer missed the CFP game against Clemson because of an injury but is set to return against the Sun Devils. Bond had one catch for 22 yards against Georgia in the SEC title game and also had a costly drop that led to an interception. For the season, he has 33 catches for 532 yards and five touchdowns and has rushed four times for 98 yards and a score. Matthew Golden and Gunnar Helm are Texas’ top two receivers and freshman Ryan Wingo has emerged, but Bond still adds a downfield element the Texas offense badly needs. He’s tied with Golden for the team lead at 16.1 yards a catch.

Arizona State RB Cam Skattebo: The No. 5 finisher in the Heisman race is the man who powers the ASU offense. Skattebo has 263 carries for 1,568 yards and 19 TDs while also serving as Arizona State’s second-leading receiver with 37 catches for 506 yards and three scores. He’s even more of a focal point with leading receiver Jordyn Tyson out for the season, too. While players like Xavier Guillory and Melquan Stovall stepped up against Iowa State, Arizona State’s offense is going to run through Skattebo.

Key to the game

This is a fascinating matchup between two of the most creative offensive minds in college football. Dillingham has schemed an offense that has scored 53 TDs this season while Texas coach Steve Sarkisian will assuredly have a couple of new looks for the Arizona State defense. Sarkisian clearly saw a weakness in the Clemson run defense in the first round and thwarted it over and over and over. Can he find a vulnerability against Arizona State? The Sun Devils have allowed over 2,800 yards passing this season and are giving up 5.2 yards per play. This may be a game that’s much more about the staying power of the ASU defense than the ASU offense.

And so it begins.

More than nine months after ending its wildly successful run in the Pac-12 Conference with another title, Arizona is on the cusp of officially beginning its journey through the Big 12. The anticipation around Wildcat Nation rivals that of another recent date on the calendar.

“It’s a little bit like Christmas Eve when you’re a little kid growing up,” coach Tommy Lloyd said Sunday, the day before the UA hosts TCU. “We’ve been talking about this for a long time, and it’s here. It’s Big 12 Eve for us, and we’re fired up.”

Added junior guard Jaden Bradley: “We’re excited. Going into probably one of the best conferences known for basketball, so we’re excited going into this. As a basketball player, that’s one of the things that you want to play best of the best, and going into the Big 12 we’re definitely getting that for 20-plus games.”

Arizona (6-5) was picked to finish 5^th in the league back in October but struggled going through its nonconference slate. The five losses are its most before Jan. 1 since the 2010-11 season, and as it stands right now the Wildcats probably wouldn’t make the NCAA Tournament after being a No. 1 or No. 2 seed the previous three years under Lloyd.

But Lloyd doesn’t see any difference in his team’s “vibe” since returning from a short holiday break, one that allowed he, his staff and the players to all reset.

“I think you always look at it as like, hey, it’s a fresh start,” Lloyd said. “You break your season up into little segments, and the Christmas break is a natural pause. So now let’s get back to it. I think the team has a good vibe around it right now, but now you got to go out on game day. You got to build some game confidence. And that’s what I’m hoping our next step is.”

Here’s what to look for when the Wildcats host the Horned Frogs (7-4) at McKale Center:

A stern defensive test right out the gate

TCU ranks 17^th in the country in adjust defensive efficiency, a few spots ahead of Arizona (20^th). The Horned Frogs allow 63.8 points per game on 40.3 percent shooting, with opponents making only 28 percent of their 3-point attempts.

“They’re a great defensive team,” Lloyd said. “They got this big guy, (Ernest Udeh), and his ball screen defense is about as good as you’re going to see. His ability to get his hands on balls from the way he guards ball screens and the deflections he gets from the 5 position, it’s really impressive, and it really caught my attention. They do a great job protecting the paint. You beat somebody, there’s another defender waiting for you.”

Arizona has faced five top-100 defenses this season and lost each of those games, and against teams ranked higher than TCU the Wildcats have scored 55 (Duke) and 54 (UCLA) points, respectively.

“It’s not going to be easy for us,” Bradley said. “We gotta adjust and find ways to win games. We’re going to have to work for a full 40 minutes to get wins.”

The Frogs have had to lean on defense because their offense has struggled for the most part. They’re shooting 43.3 percent, worst in the Big 12, are second-to-last from 3 (32.9) and rank 343^rd out of 363 Division I schools in free throw shooting (64.0).

They also are missing one of their leaders, senior Frankie Collins, who broke his foot three games ago and is out for the season. The former Michigan and ASU guard leads TCU in scoring (11.2 points per game), assists (4.4) and steals (1.9).

“TCU and Jamie Dixon is a program, it’s not about a player,” Lloyd said. “He’s had so much success over a long career, and Jamie’s one of the class acts in our business. Missing one player, I’m sure it sets it back. And obviously we know Frankie Collins is a good player. We played against him every year I’ve been here.”

Leaders wanted

A year ago Arizona had several players that you could consider the team’s leader, two of which are in the NBA and the other is at Indiana. This season? Not so much, despite having the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year in Caleb Love and a pair of returning guards in Bradley and KJ Lewis. None of them have stepped up to be the guy in that respect, but there’s still time.

“We’re still working on that,” Lloyd said. “I think we have guys stepping up in that position. I think Caleb’s certainly trying to grow. I think JB, in his own way, he’s a little bit more quiet, but I think he definitely has a voice with the guys. And then now I’m hopeful, as we get into conference play, some of our veteran transfers can kind of step up in that role. Saying we have a definitive leader, we’re probably not there yet. Last year we had some guys that at this time, or on day one, I can say, yeah. Pelle (Larsson), Keshad (Johnson), Oumar (Ballo) in his own way.

“Leadership’s huge, but leadership can come in a variety of ways. What leaders do is they can pull people together in tough times. They can help hold people accountable to a standard. Whether that’s effort or execution, and it’s great when it can come from a voice within the team, as opposed to just coming from the coaches. When you can have your coaching and your coaching staff aligned with the leadership of your team, I think you’re gonna find a group that’s really in sync. We’re fighting for that. I don’t think there’s any anybody on either side working against each other.”

A very different matchup from the previous meeting

Arizona and TCU last faced off in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, a second-round 1/8 game in San Diego that saw the Wildcats escape with an 85-80 victory in overtime. The Wildcats had three future NBA draft picks on the court, with Bennedict Mathurin going for 30 and Christian Koloko 28 while Dalen Terry nearly won it in regulation after getting a steal at halfcourt but his layup was just after the buzzer.

“I remember that the game came down to a few offensive rebounds, I think kind of on free throws,” Lloyd said. “I remember Ben Mathurin was awesome. I remember Dalen Terry hit a huge three in the corner. I remember Kerr (Kriisa) gave a great effort trying to come back and play when I don’t think people realize he probably had no business trying to play with that sprained ankle that he sprained in the Pac-12 Tournament. It was an awesome game.”

That TCU team was just as good defensively but far more methodical on offense, ranking 246^th in adjusted tempo. The 2024-25 Frogs are averaging nearly three more possessions per game and take more than 35 percent of their shots in transition, compared to 25.1 percent in 2022.

TCU still makes teams work on defense, the average length of possession (18.5 seconds) one of the longest in the country. Arizona has the 20th-shortest average possession length (15.4).

Arizona leaders are mourning the loss of former President Jimmy Carter, who was the longest-living president in the history of the U.S. at his death Sunday at age 100.

Carter died at his home in Plains, Georgia, surrounded by his family, according to an announcement from the Carter Center. He served as president from 1977 to 1981 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

In the Grand Canyon State, leaders reflected on Carter’s leadership and humanitarian legacy.

“President Carter was a fighter for everyday Americans, and that commitment continued after his presidency through extraordinary humanitarian work with his wife Rosalynn,” Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, a Democrat, said in a statement.  

“I looked up to President Carter ― not only because he brokered landmark peace treaties or spearheaded major domestic energy policies ― but because he overcame historic challenges and accomplished incredible feats while remaining his authentic self. I especially appreciated his commitment to elevating young women to spheres of influence, and he appointed more women as federal judges than all previous presidents combined.”

Rep. Greg Stanton, D-Ariz., praised Carter’s work on foreign policy, including the Camp David Accords, which led to a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel in 1978.

“Above all, he was an honorable man with unimpeachable character,” Stanton said in a statement. “Guided by his deep Christian faith, he built homes for the needy and taught Sunday School well into his 90s. He set a fine example for each of us for what it means to love thy neighbor.”

Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., also reflected on Carter’s community service.

“Always humble, President Carter showed us that public service isn’t limited to elected office,” Kelly posted on social media. “He leaves a legacy not just as a president, but as a great American who wore the uniform, built homes for his neighbors and worked for human rights across the globe.”

Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement that Carter showed what it means to live for others.

“America has lost a true servant leader,” Mayes, a Democrat, posted on social media. “President Jimmy Carter’s century-long life was defined by his integrity, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to serving his country and his fellow man.”

Leaders from across the political divide offered condolences at the news of Carter’s passing.

Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, wrote on social media, “May God bless Jimmy Carter. Politics aside, a life well lived, starting from humble beginnings. May he rest in peace.”

President-elect Donald Trump posted that he and his wife Melania were thinking warmly of the Carter family.

“The challenges Jimmy faced as President came at a pivotal time for our country and he did everything in his power to improve the lives of all Americans,” Trump wrote. “For that, we all owe him a debt of gratitude.”

Other Arizona political leaders, including Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., and Senator-elect Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., posted condolences online and offered prayers to the Carter family.

According to the Carter Center, public memorial observances will happen in Washington, D.C., and in Atlanta, followed by a private interment in Plains, Georgia. Members of the public are encouraged to visit the official tribute website to Carter at www.jimmycartertribute.org. 

Reach the reporter at cvanek@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X @CorinaVanek.