TEMPE, Ariz. — By technicality, Arizona State will only have had a bit more than three weeks between games when they eventually play Clemson or Texas in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on New Year's Day.
The Sun Devils played so well on the back end of their current six-game winning streak, though, that head coach Kenny Dillingham is wondering how his starters will react to playing an entire game for the first time since a 28-23 win over BYU on November 23.
"We haven't played a four-quarter football game (since BYU)," Dillingham said. "It would have been six weeks since we played four quarters of football. Our starters didn't play in the last quarter of the U of A game. They didn't play the last quarter (against Iowa State)."
Following back-to-back blowout victories over Arizona and No. 16 Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship, Dillingham and the rest of the ASU coaching staff are reminding their players to not expect to coast through their first-ever College Football Playoff game.
"We're not preparing for that game yet. We're preparing for us," Dillingham said. "We're trying to fine tune some things from our perspective."
The stock of belief has never been higher in Arizona State football. In the second year of the Dillingham tenure, the Sun Devils are not only still competing on college football's most glorious stage, they're doing so after media members who follow the Big 12 picked them before the season to finish in last place.
A Sports Illustrated report mentioned how that was the sixth-most unexpected result (+10,000) in sports betting history, meaning a $10 wager would've paid out $1,000. Leicester City winning the English Premier League championship (+500,000) in 2015 was the most improbable result to come to fruition.
As unlikely as ASU's conference title was, Dillingham doesn't think his team's run is miraculous.
"'The Miracle on Ice' was No. 2, and we are No. 6," Dillingham said. "I'm like, come on, guys. Let's be a little more realistic.
"Maybe just the changing of the college landscape has opened up an opportunity to be greater outliers. That's not taking away anything from our guys, it's more that I felt like we had a good team from the start. Our guys have definitely exceeded expectations."
Arizona State will have to prove oddsmakers wrong again in order to be national champions. ASU, along with Clemson and Boise State, enter the CFP with the lowest odds (+6,000) of winning a title.
The Sun Devils, who are seeded fourth in the College Football Playoff, will play either No. 5 Texas or No. 12 Clemson in the Peach Bowl, which will be played at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on New Year's Day. The Longhorns and Tigers will play at 2 p.m. on Saturday at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.