One of the oldest rivalries in football resumes Friday night in Tempe as Arizona State hosts Arizona in the annual Territorial Cup. They’ve met every year since 1946 and this will be their 99th meeting overall.
This time, each team comes in at 8-3 on the season and ranked in the Top 25. Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham says that makes it extra special.
"It’s awesome to have this game played with two really good football teams. I think there are five teams with eight wins in this league, maybe there’s a sixth now at this point and two of them are playing in a rivalry game, and I think that’s what you want. You want this game to matter, and it’s awesome that it matters," Dillingham said.
After winning just four games all of last year, Wildcats head coach Brent Brennan has his squad coming to town on a four-game win streak.
"We know that we’re going to play a team that’s without question our biggest rival. So that part of it, when you know those things, (we’re) finding ways to attack what they do. On a short week, everyone’s pressing on that, because we know how good they are,'" Brennan said.
ASU won last year’s meeting in a blowout on their way to an improbable Big 12 title. While another title is a longshot for the Devils, each team is bowl-eligible for the first time since 2017.
Kickoff is Friday night at 7 p.m. at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe.
