Where Arizona State Ranks in Recent Metric Update

TEMPE -- The 2025 Arizona State Sun Devils are officially in Big 12 title defense mode.

Kenny Dillingham's team opened up the 2025 season with a 38-19 victory over Northern Arizona - some called it a blip on the radar, while others think that the team should be closely monitored in the coming weeks.

ESPN's Bill Connelly gave an update of the network's SP+ rankings - a predictive metric that points to who the best teams in the nation should be.

Northern Arizona Lumberjacks head coach Brian Wright talks to Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham before a football game at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe on Aug. 30, 2025. | Cheryl Evans/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A description of SP+ per Connelly:

"In a single sentence, it's a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency that I originally created at Football Outsiders in 2008. SP+ is intended to be predictive and forward-facing. It is not a résumé ranking (hence the lack of unbeatens near the top), so it does not automatically give credit for big wins or particularly brave scheduling -- no good predictive system does."

The Sun Devils came in at number 30 - moving up a singular spot from the last ranking during the preseason.

Arizona State came in at sixth in the Big 12, behind Utah, TCU, Texas Tech, Kansas, Iowa State, and Brigham Young.

They come in at 30th on offense, 31st on defense, and an alarming 136th on special teams - being ranked sixth in the conference is something that will raise eyebrows as well.

The Sun Devil special teams unit seems to be tangibly improved compared to last season, with kicker Jesus Gomez performing well enough for Dillingham to feel comfortable sending him out to attempt a 57-yard field goal.

Arizona State kicker Jesus Gomez (35) during spring football practice at Kajikawa practice fields in Tempe on Tuesday, March 25, 2025. | Rob Schumacher/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The ceiling of the offense is much higher than 30th in the nation. Sam Leavitt is one of the best quarterbacks in college football, while Jordyn Tyson is setting up to be WR1 in April's NFL draft. The restocked TE position behind Chamon Metayer and the WR room behind Tyson will serve the unit well.

As for the defense, the overall production may fall short of the talent - that doesn't mean that this group isn't one of the 20 best in the nation. All three levels of the defense are deep, roster at least one elite player, and are well-coached by DC Brian Ward in conjunction with the positional coaches.

Time will tell if the Sun Devils repeat as conference champions, but they are in position to do just that at the moment.

Read more on what the strong week one showing from the Big 12 means for the Sun Devils here, and on what Arizona State players could fit on the Pittsburgh Steelers here.

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