With a lot of great bowl games coming up involving Pac-12 Conference teams, it seems to be a hot topic about what programs to root for from a UCLA perspective. Do you go with the conference representative and #BackThePac or do you go with the opposition baring in mind Pac-12 rivalries? It is a tough question, but one that divides fans of the Pac-12 Conference, so in this first edition of ‘Who To Root For’, we examine Arizona State Vs. Duke in the Hyundai Sun Bowl.
So let us look at the two teams for a moment, and not in the conventional “game preview” way. As of right now ASU is a seven point favorite to win and we have them beating Duke 42-35, though our spidey-senses are telling us the Sun Devils may win by two or more touchdowns, but that is not what this is about. Right now this is about who would you, Bruin fans, root for?
Duke Football
Nov 29, 2014; Durham, NC, USA; Drenched in Gatorade, Duke Blue Devils head coach David Cutcliffe talks with the media after defeating the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 41-21 at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports
First off, UCLA supporting Duke in anything seems like a no-brainer. Never. But the Sun Bowl brings different circumstances. This is not the Duke UCLA fans are used to. This is Duke Football. A scrappy little up-and-coming program that has been a terror in the ACC in the last two years.
The Blue Devils have won 19 games in the last 16 months, which took them five seasons to achieve before that. Head coach David Cutcliffe had taken a while to turn around a team that had averaged 4.7 wins per season in the previous 20 years before he took over, but now he has Duke as the darlings of the ACC.
They are the underdogs and everyone loves an underdog.
UCLA Bruins
Arizona State Football
The Sun Devils are not exactly a heated rival of the Bruins, but right now, two things make this a hard decision to root for Arizona State.
1. They are Pac-12 South Division rivals.
2. Both programs have been really good under their third-season coaches.
Last season, ASU beat UCLA at home to win the South Division, denying the Bruins a third straight trip to the Pac-12 Championship Game. That hurt and the Bruins remember that.
Both ASU and UCLA faced each other in their first conference game of the season this year with the Bruins blowing out the Sun Devils in Tempe, 62-27. If it came down to these two teams in a tie-breaker for the Pac-12 South, UCLA would have the advantage.
ASU was in the lead for the Pac-12 South after the Bruins lost to Utah and Oregon, which furthered UCLA fans to root against the Sun Devils. That animosity against ASU reached levels of ecstasy when Oregon State beat them in Week 12, which put control of their own destiny in UCLA’s hands. Unfortunately that faded when the Bruins lost to Stanford.
Nov 22, 2014; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils head coach Todd Graham looks on during the game against the Washington State Cougars at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian -USA TODAY Sports
But then again, another win for the Pac-12 will only bolster the image of every team in the conference, especially when trying to prove this conference is the best in the nation.
So…