Arizona State is one of the five conference winners who won an automatic playoff berth. After their Big 12 Championship victory over Iowa State, they received the No. 4 seed in this year’s 12-team playoff format, meaning they’ll sit out the first playoff round and play in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, the teams seeded No. 5-12 will play the first round where the higher four seeds will host the lower four seeded teams. For instance, No. 5 Texas will host No. 12 Clemson. 

The playoff format is positioned in a way that Arizona State will play the winner of the No. 5 vs No. 12 game, which will either be Texas or Clemson. HC Kenny Dillingham appeared in a new YouTube episode on Bussin’ With The Boys on December 11 to talk about ASU’s playoff path. Speaking about their potential upcoming playoff opponent, he said, “I’m not gonna lie. A lot of our guys are from Texas so that’s exciting for them from that perspective.”

ASU’s offseason recruiting brought several players from Texas to Tempe, one of the reasons why they were quite successful in the Big 12. To be exact, there are 21 Sun Devils players who hail from the Lone Star State. Defensive stars Clayton Smith and Prince Dorbah, and WR standout Troy Omeire are among them. So, for these players to play against their own state is going to be something when they travel across the country to face Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns in a scenario where they defeated Clemson. 

Kenny Dillingham, however, maintained an indifferent stance as he considers both their potential opponents a huge threat. He said, “I really don’t care who we play. I mean, either way, we’re going to be not favored. We’re probably going to be double-digit underdogs in either team versus either squad.” But the HC still finds solace and motivation in the fact that they’re going to be an underdog in “an unbelievable game in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.” After all, the hype is always greater when games are won by an underdog team. 

Kenny Dillingham leads ASU to the Chick-fil-A bowl

The 2024 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl will feature the Big 12 champions Arizona State against the winner of the Texas-Clemson playoff game. This will be the 57th edition of the bowl that will be played in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on New Year’s Eve. The bowl winner will advance to the CFP semi finals the following week.  

Peach Bowl, Inc. chair Percy Vaughn welcomed the teams saying, “It’s an honor to welcome Arizona State back to our game for the first time in 54 years, as well as the winner of the Clemson-Texas showdown.” For the Sun Devils, this is their first playoff appearance and it’ll be their second time playing in the bowl after their 1970 appearance. Meanwhile, Texas will hunt for its first ever Chick-fil-A Bowl appearance while Clemson has already played in this bowl eight times.

The Sun Devils only met Texas once in the 2007 Holiday Bowl. They haven’t faced Clemson yet. So, no matter who Arizona State meets, it comes with its own intrigue.

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