There was only one school in America which had fewer seniors graduate than Arizona State. That's one of the many reasons why there are lots of pundits out there who believe the Sun Devils might ultimately win the Pac-12 and have an outside shot of getting into the CFP.
2015 SCHEDULE
9/5: vs. Texas A&M (at Reliant Stadium)
9/12: vs. Cal Poly
9/19: vs. New Mexico
9/26: vs. USC
10/3: at UCLA
10/10: vs. Colorado
10/17: at Utah
10/29: vs. Oregon
11/7: at Washington State
11/14: vs. Washington
11/21: vs. Arizona
11/28: at California
The argument could definitely be made that the Sun Devils could run the table with this schedule. USC and Oregon are both at home, and potentially tricky road trips to teams like Washington and Arizona aren't on the docket either.
That said, the argument could also be made that this could be an awful year, too. Games against A&M, USC, UCLA, Utah, Oregon, Washington, Arizona and Cal are all most certainly losable and won't be easy outs.
SEASON WIN TOTAL
Arizona State has to be one of the trickiest teams in the nation to line this year. The Sun Devils are at a season win total of eight, and the vig on the under is set at -170.
The good news if you're an ASU supporter is that you know there are at least three wins on this schedule by October 10 for sure (Cal Poly, New Mexico, Colorado). There also isn't a game aside from that that is a certain loss. However, it would be really tough to get through the Pac-12 gauntlet with fewer than two losses, and that de facto road game at Texas A&M to start off the season won't be fun either.
OFFENSIVE OUTLOOK
The Arizona State offense averaged 36.9 points per game last season, good for No. 17 in the nation. Much of that was done with Taylor Kelly at quarterback, but when Mike Bercovici was under center, the offense never really lost a step.
Now, the job belongs to Bercovici now that Kelly is no longer a part of the team. He threw 12 TDs against four picks last season, and his 1,445 yards in five games wasn't bad either.
It was tough for Arizona State to lose Jaelen Strong to the NFL a year early, but getting back do-it-all back D.J. Foster should really help out.
The receiving onus will now fall upon Cameron Smith and Gary Chambers, who combined for 800 receiving yards and eight scores a year ago in a year where Strong and Foster dominated the receiving stats.
DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK
Nine starters are back from last year's defense, and the Sun Devils know that they have to really improve on that side of the ball to beat the best teams in the Pac-12.
Remember that this is a team which allowed 42 points to Arizona and 62 to UCLA, and even in the somewhat easier games against Notre Dame, Duke, Washington State and Oregon State, the team allowed at least 31 points.
SEASON PREDICTION
Arizona State won nine games in the regular season last year, and we suspect that it will do similar this season as well.
We have a really tough time imagining that a somewhat proven entity in Bercovici will struggle badly enough to lose all of those tossup types of games.
Arizona State is set at 70 to 1 to win the National Championship, and it's fair to think that it might be able to pay that bet off if all of the chips fall properly. The Sun Devils are 8 to 1 to win the Pac-12, the fifth choice on the board behind Oregon, USC, UCLA and Stanford, but when you've got so many returners and a legit Heisman Trophy candidate in Foster, you're going to have a shot at winning a lot of games.
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