Arizona State football predicted to finish last in 2022 Pac-12 Conference projections

It could be a long season for the Arizona State football team, at least according to a couple of early predictions for the Pac-12 in 2022.

Two 247Sports college football writers recently made their picks for how the conference would play out in 2022 and they both projected ASU to finish 12th.

As in last in the Pac-12.

Erik Skopil and Jared Mack both had ASU going 3-9 overall and 1-8 in conference play.

Skopil had Colorado having the same overall and conference record as the Sun Devils.

Mack had Colorado going 2-10 overall, but 2-7 in Pac-12 play to finish ahead of Arizona State.

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The writers slammed the Sun Devils in their preseason rankings.

Skopil wrote: "I genuinely don't understand the buzz from the FPI or the Vegas line. This is the only one I really question. Arizona State has been gutted by the transfer portal, and while they did add some quality pieces in return, including Florida quarterback Emory Jones, it's hard to see this team returning anywhere near eligibility. Two cupcake non-league games will help them open with two early wins, but aside from the win over UW, I have the season crumbling. Games against Stanford, Colorado, and Arizona could prove coin flips, but two of those are on the road."

Mack wrote: "Probably the talk of the Pac-12 offseason other than USC was Arizona State's disastrous turnover while retaining Herm Edwards. Mark me as down on the Sun Devils this season. I have some serious question marks on Emory Jones as a starter and how he will fare when defenses adjust to his ability to run the ball. Arizona State had 16 players leave through the transfer portal this offseason, and while they had some players transfer into the portal, I think most of their key players are gone. Their recruiting class was down significantly from prior years. With the NCAA cloud hanging above the program, nearly a completely new staff, and a difficult conference slate (ASU plays all my projected top four seeds), I don't think it will be sunny in Tempe this fall."

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Mack's predicted wins for ASU? Northern Arizona, Eastern Michigan and Oregon State.

He had Utah first in his prediction for the Pac-12, followed by Oregon, USC, UCLA, Oregon State, Washington State, Washington, California, Stanford, Arizona and then Colorado right before ASU.

Skopil projected Arizona State wins against NAU, EMU and Washington.

He had the conference pecking order as Utah, Oregon, USC, UCLA, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, Arizona, Cal, Stanford, Colorado and then Arizona State.

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Skopil predicted Arizona to go 2-10 overall and 2-7 in the conference (with wins over Colorado and ASU).

Mack predicted Arizona to go 6-6 overall and 4-5 in Pac-12 play. He had the Wildcats beating San Diego State, North Dakota State, Cal, Colorado, Washington State and ASU.

ASU's win total was recently set at 6.5 games for the upcoming 2022 season by Vegas Insider.

The Sun Devils went 8-5 overall in 2021.

They finished 6-3 in conference play.

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Reach Jeremy Cluff at jeremy.cluff@arizonarepublic.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeremy_Cluff.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Pac-12 football projections 2022: ASU football picked to finish last