The Arizona State Sun Devils are less than 48 hours away from their big early-season challenge against the Missouri Tigers. The Tigers are ranked No. 21 in the AP poll (in which ASU in not ranked) and No. 19 in the Coaches' Poll (in which ASU is ranked No. 23).
That being said, the Tigers are underdogs in Friday's game. ASU is currently an eight-point favorite in the match-up and appears to have a lot of momentum heading into Friday's match-up.
The Tigers will be motivated to prove the masses wrong. They had a decent performance in a 17-6 victory over Miami (Ohio) but did not put on the dominant performance of a ranked team. Friday's game provides the perfect opportunity to showcase their talent.
ASU, meanwhile, will be motivated to earn their first win against a ranked opponent since 2007, when the Sun Devils beat the No. 18 Cal Golden Bears. The Sun Devils have gone 0-10 against ranked opponents since then, but they have come incredibly close in their recent attempts. Last year, the Sun Devils fell 20-19 to the No. 11 Wisconsin Badgers and 17-13 to the No. 7 Stanford Cardinal.
This year, however, is different from past years. The Sun Devils have more talent and more confidence this season than in any of the past few seasons, and the sense of excitement around Tempe could translate into big plays on Friday. The Sun Devils are ready to take on the challenge of the Tigers, and it appears that they will do so as favorites.