PROVO, Utah (ABC4 Sports) - BYU is still in the College Football Playoffs as of now, but they desperately need a win over #21 Arizona State in Tempe this Saturday.
The Cougars are ranked #14 in the latest CFP rankings, but because they are the highest ranked Big 12 Conference team, they earn the 12-seed as of now.
But that could all change after Saturday.
BYU and Arizona State actually have a lot in common. The Cougars were picked to finish 13th in the Big 12, while the Sun Devils were picked dead last. But here they are as 9-1 BYU and 8-2 ASU will battle it out for a chance to play in the conference championship game.
"I feel so connected to them because nobody cared about us before the season," BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. "None of you guys even predicted this happening. So to have this game be a something with a lot of meaning is is really cool at this point."
"Two teams that have similar mentality," said tight end Mata'ava Ta'ase. "We were both not projected to be where we are right now."
For the first time all year, BYU is learning how to cope after a loss. But they're trying to learn from Saturday's 17-13 loss to Kansas.
"Not a lot of teams go undefeated," said defensive lineman John Nelson. "But we just got to take the lessons we learned and apply them to this week, and get back to BYU football. That's playing our hardest no matter who we're playing."
BYU really needs to improve its efficiency in the red zone. The Cougars offense has scored just two touchdowns in its last two games.
"There's a bunch of things it's from," Sitake said. "The poor execution, communicating better and that's what it comes down to. But we also give credit for Kansas for making the plays."
This is an even bigger game for tight end Tava Ta'ase who grew up right next to Arizona State. He's expecting dozens of family and friends to attend Saturday's game.
"It's definitely going to be a fun game just because it's like ten minutes away from home," Ta'ase said. "I definitely have history with ASU. My uncle actually is the associate head coach over there. It's just be fun to be close to the family and have them all come out."
This is one of the hottest tickets in the country, and Arizona State head coach Kenny Dillingham pleased with ASU fans not to sell them to BYU fans.
"If you have tickets and you're an ASU fan, make sure they go to ASU fans," Dillingham said. "There's a lot of BYU fans in the Valley. So let's make sure if you're an ASU fan and you own a ticket and that you're selling it or you're giving it away, make them show you an ASU hat or an ASU shirt."
"We know that there's people in the area that are that are fans of ASU and are fans of us," Sitake said. "There's a large LDS community in Phoenix. So that's going to be kind of fun that we are able to have this game."
BYU and Arizona State will kick off at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in Tempe.