More than just the Territorial Cup could be at stake in ASU-UofA rivalry game

by Jordan Page

ASU and UofA's final season of Pac-12 football hasn't had many highlights for the Sun Devils, but they have a chance to end their season on a high note by upsetting an unexpectedly strong Wildcats team.

Driving the news: ASU and UofA play their annual rivalry game at 1:30pm Saturday at Mountain America Stadium.

State of play: The Sun Devils have struggled through a 3-8 season, while the Wildcats have been the surprise of the conference this year, going 8-3 and climbing to No. 16 in the AP rankings.

Yes, but: The rivalry game is a different animal as far as ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham is concerned, and whatever happened before this week is irrelevant.

"There's two seasons when you play at ASU. There's the first 11 games and that's one season. And then there's the team-down-south week and that's entirely another season," he told the Arizona Republic.

The intrigue: There's more at stake this year than who takes home the Territorial Cup — UofA has a shot at making it to the final Pac-12 championship game, but the only way for that to happen is for the Wildcats to beat ASU.

Even then, the Wildcats still need No. 15 Oregon State to upset No. 6 Oregon on the Ducks' home field on Friday.
The No. 5-ranked Washington Huskies have already punched their tickets to the conference title game.

Who to watch: Backup quarterback Noah Fifita stepped in as UofA's starter on Sept. 30 after Jayden de Laura suffered an ankle injury. Since, the Wildcats have gone 5-2 and are on a five-game winning streak.

UofA wideout Tetairoa McMillan has 976 receiving yards, the third-most in the Pac-12, and nine touchdowns, which is tied for fifth.

Of note: The Pac-12 nixed its north and south divisions last year and refashioned the conference championship game so it features the top two teams.

If the Pac-12 South still existed, Arizona would be leading it.
UofA's only appearance in the conference title game was in 2014, when the Wildcats lost to Oregon.

Context: This is the first time since 2014 the Wildcats have been ranked going into the rivalry game.

ASU and UofA were both ranked that year.
The last time ASU defeated a ranked Wildcats team for the Territorial Cup was 1992.
UofA leads the rivalry 50–45–1, largely as a result of the Wildcats' 20-2 record to start the rivalry from 1899-1948.

The big picture: ASU and UofA will join the Big 12 next year, as will fellow Pac-12 teams Colorado and Utah.

Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington will join the Big 10 next year, while Cal and Stanford become ACC members.
It's unclear whether the Pac-12 will completely dissolve or reconstitute itself with new members. A superior court judge in eastern Washington last week awarded Oregon State and Washington State, the conference's last two teams, control of the Pac-12 and its assets.

Source: Jeremy Duda | Axios