It took awhile for SB Nation pollsters and various other Internet college sports writers to warm up to the The Arizona St. Sun Devils. But a Friday night national TV appearance tends to boost your profile, especially if you win.
In beating the Missouri Tigers, ASU showed they could play very strong offense to complement their imposing defensive profile, and that Brock Osweiler could be a competent Pac-12 level quarterback that could manage the pass-heavy ASU offense.
The Sun Devils are 21st in the rankings in their first week in the poll. The highest ranking was 10th, courtesy of Tom Fornelli of CBS Sports. They also received ten rankings of 15th or more. ASU will be tested very quickly to hold onto those rankings, with a road date to Illinois followed by a critical late night matchup in Tempe against the USC Trojans.
The poll is below.
Results for Week 3
SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Rankings 2011
For more on ASU football, head to House of Sparky.