Gif by Ben MargiottComing off a blowout home loss to a division rival, ASU football's season was trending in a general downward direction just two weeks ago, but, as we should expect in this topsy turvy game, that all changed in an instant.
You all know the moment I'm referring to. That now-famous play in which redshirt junior quarterback Mike Bercovici uncorked a last-second bomb to junior wide receiver Jaelen Strong for the game-winning touchdown against USC.
Just like that, ASU's season turned on a dime. Fans who had glumly written off their team were suddenly rejuvenated and a Pac-12 South championship, which seemed so insane a thought after the UCLA Bruins dominated the Sun Devils in Tempe, was instantly a very real possibility.
Fans were surprised by the miracle now known as the "Jael-Mary," but they shouldn't have been.
You see, college football is a sport that thrives on chaos, disorder and surprises. In no other major sport do fans witness the kind of gut-wrenching, heart-stopping insanity they do on Saturdays across the country.
The college football craziness has not been localized to Tempe. It has spread like a wildfire all across the country.
From big upsets like UA's gutsy takedown of the vaunted Oregon Ducks in Eugene or upstart TCU's unseating of Big-12 power Oklahoma, or Virginia Tech's early season upset of Ohio State, top seeds are never safe from the underdogs.
And while some programs will remain at the top for years and even decades, more often than not it's the upstarts that charge into the upper echelon of the rankings.
Take, for instance, the two surprising teams from the Hospitality State, No. 1 Mississippi State and No. 3 Ole Miss. Mississippi State was unranked coming into the season and Ole Miss was ranked as the country's 18th best team in the preseason. Neither team had lost a game and have a number of big-time wins on their resumes.
Meanwhile, of the preseason top 5 teams, only defending champion Florida State remains (currently ranked No. 2).
Alabama, Oregon, Oklahoma and Ohio State have all lost, tumbling in the polls while Mississippi's two surprises have risen to the top along with Baylor and Notre Dame.
UCLA, a trendy preseason pick for the four-team playoff, has lost two games in a row after beating ASU and has now dropped out of the AP and Coaches polls.
Other teams like perennial power LSU and usually stout Wisconsin are notably absent from the polls.
It's cliché to say to expect the unexpected, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.
Sun Devil fans can attest to the fact that in the land of college football, the safe bet is almost never the safe bet and chaos is almost always a far more likely outcome.
Unless you're a fan of one of the teams that have fallen victim to this year's bout of madness (sorry 'Bama, Oregon, Oklahoma and others), you should revel in and savor the pure bliss that is college football insanity.
Reach the sports editor at icbeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @ICBeck21
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