Arizona State’s surprising season could finish in Las Vegas Bowl

This year’s game takes place at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 27 at Allegiant Stadium and matches a team from the current/former Pac-12 Conference against a representative from the SEC.

Projection: Arizona State vs. Missouri

The Sun Devils (7-2) are one of the feel-good stories of the college football season after winning three games in coach Kenny Dillingham’s first season. They were the choice for this game by 24/7 Sports, ESPN.com’s Kyle Bonagura and the Sporting News.

Arizona State held off Central Florida 35-31 on Saturday, scoring a touchdown on offense, defense and special teams. Jordyn Tyson hauled in the winning touchdown from quarterback Sam Leavitt with 4:55 remaining.

The schedule gets tougher for the Sun Devils, with No. 20 Kansas State (7-2) this week, followed by a matchup with No. 7 BYU (9-0) before facing rival Arizona (3-6) to close the regular season.

Other former/current Pac-12 teams appearing in projections are UCLA and Washington State.

The Tigers (7-2) kept their faint College Football Playoff hopes alive with a wild 30-23 victory over Oklahoma and were the pick by 24/7 Sports and ESPN.com’s Bonagura and Mark Schlabach.

After trailing 23-16 with two minutes remaining, Missouri tied the game on a touchdown reception by Theo Wease Jr. with 1:03 left and went ahead on a fumble return for a score with 22 seconds to play.

Missouri faces a tricky trip to South Carolina (6-3), followed by games against Mississippi State (2-8) and Arkansas (5-4).

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on X.