Is Arizona State's Future Non-Conference Slate At Risk?

The Sun Devils could be at risk of losing future SEC duels.

The Peach Bowl trophy on display before a joint news conference with Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian and Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham. | Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Arizona State's national profile has improved tenfold over the last 12 months.

The Sun Devils reached the College Football Playoff in 2024 in a narrow loss to Texas - that has set the stage for many more years of relevancy within the context of the nation.

Kenny Dillingham's program is set to play home-and-home slates with SEC powers Texas A&M, LSU, Florida, and the same Texas program over the next decade - those meetings reportedly could be in peril at the moment.

From college football insider Jon Wilner:

"ASU AD Graham Rossini believes noncon dates with SEC powers could be at risk. It's a potentially tricky situation for the entire Big 12 as the sport becomes increasingly interconnected."

One of the unfortunate fallouts of the new landscape of college football is that numerous programs currently playing in the SEC and Big 10 are actively seeking to soften non-conference schedules due to the perceived strength of their own conference schedules.

The potential guarantee for four teams to be automatically selected from the SEC is eye-opening as well - SEC programs such as Texas A&M may not want to risk losing a game to Arizona State in September, especially when the teams could be competing for playoff spots in the future.

This is the part of a much larger conversation surrounding how much power the SEC and Big 10 should have relative to the other pair of power four conferences - the Big 12 included.

The Big 12 and ACC should not be penalized for factors outside of their own control - while the other two conferences have more prominent programs at the table, programs such as Arizona State deserve to showcase what they can do against said programs - the ones that have previously been scheduled included.

As for the 2025 Sun Devils - they are set to begin the new season on August 30 against FCS foe Northern Arizona before taking to the road to play Mississippi State the next week.

Read more on projecting the 10 best players on Arizona State's roster going into the new season here, and on Sam Leavitt being selected as the Big-12 Preseason Offensive Player of the Year here.

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