The Territorial Cup, the annual matchup between the in-state rivals Arizona Wildcats and Arizona State Sun Devils, hasn't featured both teams ranked since 1975. This will be, without a doubt, the biggest Territorial Cup battle in 40 years as ASU travels to Tucson to take on the Wildcats.
How to watch Arizona State vs. Arizona: Game guide, TV schedule, streaming, odds
The most anticipated Territorial Cup in decades kicks off Friday in Tucson with a decent chance at the Pac-12 South title on the line.
Arizona is coming into the game having won three in a row, including a dismantling of the then=17th-ranked Utah Utes last week. The only two blemishes on the Wildcats' record are the two games against the Los Angeles teams.
The Sun Devils sport an identical record to the Wildcats, and also have a loss to UCLA. Their only other defeat came at the hands of the pesky Oregon State Beavers, but prior to that, the Devils had beaten both ranked Utah and ranked Notre Dame. Although, the Notre Dame win is looking less impressive with each passing Irish loss.
How to watch, listen, and stream
Game time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
Radio: Arizona radio affiliates and Arizona State radio affiliates.
Online streaming: FOX Sports Go
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The numbers
Rankings and records: Arizona is ranked No. 12 in both the AP Poll and Coaches Poll. Arizona State is ranked No. 13 in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll. The Wildcats are 9-2 overall and 6-2 in the Pac-12, while the Sun Devils are also 9-2 overall and also 6-2 in conference play. It doesn’t get much more even than that, folks.
Vegas: No opening line currently, per Odds Shark.
Weather forecast: It will be a clear, sunny 81-degree day in Tucson Friday afternoon with a zero-percent chance of rain.
Two things at stake
The winner of this game will be cheering hard for Stanford to beat UCLA, because then the Territorial Cup holder will also be the Pac-12 South champion.
The winner will also have an outside shot of representing the conference in the inaugural College Football Playoff, assuming the winner goes on to beat Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship game.
One big matchup
Jaelen Strong and Cameron Smith vs. Arizona's passing defense: The Sun Devils' star wide receiver sat out last weeks win against Washington State with concussion symptoms, and Smith stepped up in a big way to light up the Cougars defense to the tune of six catches for 131 yards and two touchdowns. Strong is expected to be back for the rivalry game against Arizona and the Wildcats veteran secondary will need to play a strong game to neutralize him and his running mate. The Cats are eighth in the conference in passing defense, giving up an average of nearly 276 yards per game. As if those two weren't enough for Arizona to worry about, starting tailback D.J. Foster has caught 52 passes out of the backfield. Taylor Kelly truly has a wealth of options to pick from when he drops back to pass.
Further reading
For more info on Arizona, head on over to Desert Swarm. For more news on Arizona State, House of Sparky will gladly oblige you.
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