Arizona

Arizona State could push Big 12 title chase to final weekend

Published

11 months ago

November 21, 2024

Arizona State could push Big 12 title chase to final weekend

TEMPE, AZ (AP/AZFamily) — The Arizona State Sun Devils are set for a huge matchup this weekend when they host the BYU Cougars at Mountain America Stadium.

Saturday’s game in Tempe will have massive implications in the Big 12 Conference with multiple teams chasing a title game appearance.

A win over the 14th-ranked Cougars would massively boost title game hopes for the 21st-ranked Sun Devils. Ticket prices have been soaring for the highly anticipated conference game.

Arizona State Head Coach Kenny Dillingham joined Good Morning Arizona on Thursday to talk about the team’s expectation-busting season. Watch the full interview in the video player at the top of this page.

Things to watch this week in the Big 12 Conference:

Game of the week

No. 14 BYU (9-1, 6-1 Big 12, No. 14 CFP) at No. 21 Arizona State (8-2, 5-2, No. 21), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

League newcomer Arizona State has a three-game winning streak and BYU is coming off its first loss. The Cougars, after losing at home to Kansas, still control their own destiny in making the Big 12 championship game. They can clinch a spot in that Dec. 7 game as early as Saturday, if they win and instate rival Utah wins at home against No. 22 Iowa State.

Arizona State was picked at the bottom of the 16-team league in the preseason media poll, but already has a five-win improvement in coach Dillingham’s second season.

The undercard

No. 16 Colorado (8-2, 6-1, No. 16 CFP) at Kansas (4-6, 3-4), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (Fox)

Coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes are in prime position to make the Big 12 title game in their return to the league after 13 seasons in the Pac-12. If BYU and Utah win, Colorado would be able to claim the other title game spot with a win over Kansas. The Buffs have a four-game winning streak.

The Jayhawks need another November win over a ranked Big 12 contender while trying to get bowl eligible for the third season in a row. Kansas has won consecutive games over Top 25 teams for the first time in school history, knocking off Iowa State before BYU.

Impact players

Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht has thrown a touchdown in a school-record 14 consecutive games, while receivers Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel both have more than 800 yards receiving. San Jose State is the only other FBS team with a pair of 800-yard receivers. Becht has 2,628 yards and 17 touchdowns passing for the Cyclones (8-2, 5-2), who are still in Big 12 contention.

Inside the numbers

Oklahoma State goes into its home finale against Texas Tech with a seven-game losing streak, its longest since a nine-game skid from 1977-78. The only longer winless streak since was an 0-10-1 season in 1991. This is Mike Gundy’s 20th season as head coach, and his longest losing streak before now was five in a row in 2005, his first season and the last time the Cowboys didn’t make a bowl game. … Baylor plays at Houston for the first time since 1995, the final Southwest Conference season. The Cougars won last year in the only meeting since to even the series 14-14-1. … Eight Big 12 teams are bowl eligible. As many as six more teams could reach six wins.

Repeating 1,000

The Big 12 already has four 1,000-yard rushers, including three who did it last season. UCF’s RJ Harvey is the league’s top rusher (1,328 yards) and top scorer with 21 touchdowns (19 rushing/two receiving). The others with consecutive 1,000-yard seasons are Texas Tech career rushing leader Tahj Brooks (1,184 yards) and Kansas State’s DJ Giddens (1,128 yards). Cam Skattebo with league newcomer Arizona State has 1,074 yards.

Devin Neal, the career rushing leader at his hometown university, is 74 yards shy of being the first Kansas player with three 1,000-yard seasons. Cincinnati’s Corey Kiner needs 97 yards to reach 1,000 again.

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Arizona

How wide open is the expanded Arizona 2A high school football playoff field?

Published

15 hours ago

October 28, 2025

Press Room

How wide open is the expanded Arizona 2A high school football playoff field?

This week, the 2A Arizona high school football playoffs begin for 16 of the 24 teams in the postseason. The top eight teams have byes to next week’s round of 16.

The expanded field gives a conference with 51 schools a chance to extend the season. But how wide open is it? The Arizona Lutheran win over Scottsdale Christian in the final week of the regular season showed it might be anybody’s title.

“I think it’s as open as it can be,” said Scottsdale Christian coach Mike Sheahan, whose team won the past two titles and was No. 1 by The Arizona Republic all season until the Arizona Lutheran loss. “Whoever gets hot will win it.”

Let’s break down the Oct. 31 first-round matchups. All games start at 7 p.m., at the higher seed’s field:

No. 17 Santa Cruz (5-5) at No. 16 Glendale Prep (7-3). This isn’t your typical Santa Cruz team. It got blown out by Phoenix Christian and Arizona Lutheran during a four-game losing streak. Glendale Prep’s loss to No. 1 Veritas Prep should help it adjust to what it needs to win this game. The winner plays at Veritas Prep on Nov. 7.

No. 24 Tonopah Valley (4-5) at No. 9 Tanque Verde (8-2). The winner plays at No. 8 Camp Verde on Nov. 7. Tonopah Valley hasn’t had the same offensive firepower that it did the last few years under Brett Davis. Tanque Verde looks like a team ready to move into the next round.

No. 21 Scottsdale Prep (5-5) at No. 12 Parker (7-2). Don’t expect an upset. Parker should advance to play Nov. 7 at No. 5 Arizona Lutheran, which had one of its toughest games two weeks ago in a 19-12 win over the Broncs. “After playing Parker, I thought they were a top-eight team,” Arizona Lutheran coach David Peter said.

No. 20 Alchesay (6-2) at No. 13 Chandler Prep (7-3). The winner advances against No. 4 St. John’s, which has a legit shot to win the whole thing. Chandler Prep should win, but it is coming off a 35-7 loss to Pima.

No. 19 Globe (6-4) at No. 14 Benson (6-4). Benson has more impressive wins, a tougher schedule and should get through to face No. 3 Phoenix Christian on Nov. 7.

No. 22 Mountainside (6-4) at No. 11 Trivium Prep (7-3). When these teams met on Oct. 10, Trivium Prep struggled to beat Mountainside 20-14. It’s always hard to beat the same team twice in a season. The winner goes to No. 6 Willcox on Nov. 7.

No. 23 Holbrook (6-4) at No. 10 Pima (6-4). Don’t bet against Pima, which may be the healthiest it has been all season, after taking apart Chandler Prep last week. Holbrook just lost to Tuba City 20-18. Expect to see Pima next week at No. 7 San Tan Charter.

No. 18 Tuba City (7-3) at No. 15 Morenci (6-4). It’s been difficult for a reservation school to get beyond the first round in football, and Tuba City, which is part of the Navajo Nation, is facing a team that has had an extremely hard schedule, losing close games to Pima (13-6) and St. Johns (21-12) down the stretch. Expect Morenci to play at No. 2 Scottsdale Christian on Nov. 7.

Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don’t miss a thing. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

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Arizona

Arizona State vs Iowa State picks, predictions for college football Week 10 game Saturday

Published

1 day ago

October 27, 2025

Press Room

Arizona State vs Iowa State picks, predictions for college football Week 10 game Saturday

The Iowa State Cyclones and Arizona State Sun Devils play on Saturday, Nov. 1, at Iowa State football’s Jack Trice Stadium in a game on the college football Week 10 schedule.

Which team will win the college football Week 10 game?

Check out these college football Week 10 picks and college football Week 10 predictions for the Big 12 game, which can be seen at 10 a.m. MST on TNT (stream with Sling).

Iowa State is a 5.5-point favorite over Arizona State in college football Week 10 odds for the game, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

The Cyclones are -210 on the moneyline, while the Sun Devils are +170. The over/under (point total) for the game is set at 50.5 points.

Watch Arizona State at Iowa State live on Sling

Jeremy Cluff writes: “Iowa State has had this game circled since the Big 12 schedule was released. Rocco Becht and the Cyclones will be ready for this game, eager to get some revenge for their loss to Arizona State in the Big 12 title game last season.”

Dimers.com: Iowa State 27, Arizona State 24

It writes: “After extensive simulations, our model gives Arizona State a win probability of 41%, while Iowa State has a win probability of 59%.”

ESPN: Iowa State has a 66.5% chance to defeat Arizona State on Saturday

The site gives the Sun Devils a 33.5% shot at winning the college football Week 10 game over the Cyclones on Nov. 1, 2025.

Bookies.com: Bet Iowa State to cover vs Arizona State

Bill Speros writes: “Perhaps the most notable thing about this game has it landing on TNT. This slot was set aside for the Big 12 games ESPN gave to TNT and TBS in exchange for the rights to air ‘Inside the NBA’ this season. Shaq, Ernie, Kenny and Charles for ASU at Iowa State? Both teams stand 5-3 outright, 3-2 in the Big 12, have covered just 3 times this season, are coming off home Big 12 losses at home, and have failed to be meet their lofty conference expectations this season. ISU dropped its third-straight conference game Saturday, losing 41-27 to BYU on Homecoming Weekend. Ouch. The Sun Devils exited the Top 25 following a 24-16 home loss to Houston. The home team here gets a slight edge due to the early start and temperatures in the 40s come kickoff time.”

The site’s formula predicts that the Cyclones will beat the Sun Devils in the Big 12 football game this week.

Eddie Kline writes: “Arizona State QB Sam Leavitt was forced to leave Saturday’s loss with a lower leg injury and his status for this game is uncertain. With Leavitt and Tyson banged up, it is hard to imagine the Sun Devils finding a way to win in this spot.”

Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

Support local journalism: Subscribe to azcentral.com today. Sign up for azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don’t miss a thing.

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Study: Gilbert ranked the safest city in Arizona

Published

2 days ago

October 27, 2025

Press Room

Study: Gilbert ranked the safest city in Arizona

Gilbert was rated as the safest city in Arizona in a recent study that reviewed home and community, natural disaster risk and financial safety.

It came in 29th overall out of 182 U.S. cities in WalletHub’s “Safest Cities in America (2025).”

Chandler and Scottsdale were slotted at No. 40 and 41, respectively, whereas Glendale and Phoenix were near the bottom of barrel (131 and 136) as the least safe in the state.

Of the three main categories in the study, Gilbert shined as the ninth-best for home and community while coming in 36th for financial safety.

The biggest knock on the desert city came in natural disaster risk, Gilbert rated T-155th.

Warwick, Rhode Island, was crowned the safest city in America and Overland Park, Kansas, Burlington, Vermont, Juneau, Alaska and Yonkers, New York rounded out the top five.

How did Gilbert, other Arizona cities stack up in safety study?

The study awarded U.S. cities up to 100 points, and home and community was worth the most at 60 points. Besides Gilbert’s top-10 posting, Chandler (19th), Scottsdale (22nd) and Peoria (39th) all made the top 50.

Financial safety, which accounted for 20 points, was also a consistent strength for Arizona cities, as five of the nine in the study were inside the top 50 and all were in the top 100 — Tucson was the lowest at 98th.

Though Tucson came in 112th overall, it was the only Arizona city to rank in the top 100 for natural disaster risk (27th).

Which cities occupied the undesirable bottom five spots, or were rated the least safe in the country?

Here they are in order, 178th to 182nd: