The Preheat: This is a high stakes College Football Playoff game, right?

Last year’s Sugar Bowl on January 1st carried a biblical anticipation, as if it were the culmination of something prophesied long ago.

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I’d been waiting for Texas to get into the College Football Playoff for what felt like forever, and they’d finally made it. The game was played on January 1st, as the Sugar Bowl always is, but to those who gobble up narratives and symbolism like Christmas cookies, the date to me represented the Longhorns’ new dawn and imminent reign over the coming era of college football.

At least, that’s how I framed it in my mind.

All the waiting and the nerves were almost too much, and even though I stretched the metaphors to make it all work, the end result against Washington rejected my narrative—or ignored it completely. In reality, Texas playing for a national championship last year was too much, too soon. So, it’s odd comparing last year’s feelings of restless buildup to my mindset before this year’s New Year’s Day game. Part of that is due to the expanded playoff, the site, and the opponent. Nevertheless, it’s a win or go home playoff game and we need to zap it in the microwave. 

Gauging a low temperature on the hype level comes from the fact I know very few people going to the Peach Bowl or even trying to attend. Who really wants to go to Atlanta twice—nay, hopefully three times—in one month? General Sherman saw it once and set it ablaze. The very gettable $35 tickets on sale for the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl reflect that not many Longhorns want the trouble of attending, especially when a victory means there will be a hot ticket in Jerry World on the 10th against Oregon or Ohio State.

If this game were against Clemson, and the home playoff game had been another opponent, I could see the rush to return to Atlanta being different. But Big 12 blue blood Arizona State doesn’t exactly inspire the kind of “helmet matchup” drooling that the Tigers and Dabo Swinney did. But why aren’t the Sun Devils’ legions of Fred Durst-worshiping fans snatching up more tickets? I haven’t a clue. I guess they all made plans to party at various Phoenix-area Dave & Buster’s on New Year’s Eve. Dance Dance Revolution isn’t going to play itself, after all.

There’s also the flawed nature of the 12-team playoff’s first iteration. A second-round game shouldn’t be a bowl game, nor should it be played away from the higher seed’s campus. It’s going to be hard to convince fans to pay for three or four neutral-site games around Christmas.

To look ahead is to be human—to be a fan. Looking ahead is what keeps us coming back each August. And when you look at Arizona State, it’s easy to skim over them and start reading up on the Ducks or the Buckeyes.

Why? Because ASU has a 34-year-old head coach in Kenny Dillingham, an unavailable best wide receiver in Jordyn Tyson, and a defensive front that averages under 300 pounds and has posted paltry sack numbers all season. No matter how many creative plays Dillingham learned from NFL Blitz or how effective the Couch-to-Coach Master Class taught by Mike McDaniel was, his offense for this game will be painfully telegraphed: Cam Skattebo run right, run middle, run left.

If last game Clemson had to resort to Hero Ball with Cade Klubnik, then this is Atlas-Ball, as the weight of the world rests upon Skattebo’s broad shoulders. And unlike many of his opponents in the Big 12, Skattebo won’t be able to outrun Anthony Hill.

There’s also that Sun Devils lost on the road to Cincinnati and Texas Tech and they should’ve lost to Texas State in San Marcos. The Bobcats aren’t even their own fans’ favorite team! And the talent gap is as wide as Arizona’s most famous crater, according to Todd McShay at The Ringer, Texas has 12 draftable prospects; Arizona State has one: Skattebo.

Then Sun Devil quarterback Sam Leavitt made sure Texas wasn’t sleeping when he gave the Longhorn defense extra motivation when he said he would prove why he’s better than Quinn Ewers. Colin Simmons has already taken notice. Giving this team bulletin board material hasn’t worked well for Texas opponents over the last two seasons—Joey McGuire and Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark could’ve told the Sun Devils that.

All of this makes Arizona State’s playoff appearance feel out of place, their chances of winning even more unbelievable. Their resume is flawed, they’ve already overachieved and considering them as a potential Cinderella defies the conventions of the playoff era which has taught us that when two teams meet that are equally motivated, the team with superior talent wins. But, I’m the one who made last year’s New Year’s Day game too big of a deal and here I am not giving this one the attention it deserves.

Luckily, fans aren’t paid the big bucks to gameplan and motivate the team like Steve Sarkisian and his staff are. The Peach Bowl against ASU may feel perfunctory, like a familiar flight of stairs, and that’s exactly why it’s dangerous.

Now is not the time to trip and fall.

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Schadenfreude of the Week: How about Friday for Texas fans? Oklahoma lost to Navy, sealing Brent Venables’ second losing season in three years at the helm in Norman. Salute the troops, Longhorns. Then Texas A&M lost a heartbreaker to Lincoln Riley and USC in Las Vegas. Forget the fact that bowl games in 2024 feel more like charity exhibitions than meaningful postseason contests. That is, unless one of your rivals loses—then they still mean everything.