No. 15 Arizona State likely locked in its place in the College Football Playoff with a statement performance against No. 16 Iowa State in the Big 12 championship game. The Sun Devils dominated in all facets in a 45–19 win, outgaining the Cyclones 464 yards to 341.
The five highest-rated conference champions will earn automatic bids to the 12-team College Football Playoff, with the four highest-rated teams among them earning the top four seeds and first-round byes. Boise State, which moved to 12–1 and clinched the Mountain West championship with a solid 21–7 win over UNLV on Friday night, has been entrenched as one of the four projected bye teams since the release of the Week 12 CFP rankings after BYU suffered its first loss. Arizona State was on the fringes of the Playoff discussion at the time, ranked No. 21 with an 8–2 record. The Sun Devils have been red hot since mid-October, and after a beatdown of Iowa State, deserve real consideration for a first-round bye.
