ASU Football: Sun Bowl ranked 17th out of 38 bowls this season

While the Sun Bowl wasn't what most ASU fans wanted, it's better in context than what the expectation was at the beginning of the season. The Sun Devils are headed to El Paso on Dec. 27 to play the Duke Blue Devils in the first matchup ever between the two schools. According to Mike Huguenin of NFL.com, the Sun Bowl is the No. 17 best bowl of the 2014-15 college bowl season.

Here is what he had to say about the matchup:

Headed into November, the Sun Devils had a shot at a playoff berth, so you wonder about their mindset. We like this matchup because there's something cool about teams whose nicknames include the word "Devils" playing in the Sun Bowl (you know, because the sun is hot, and the devil lives where it's hot).

The mindset is a legitimate concern after many pegged ASU's loss in the Holiday Bowl last season as the Sun Devils not caring about it after they lost the Pac-12 Championship Game. Now, opening as 8.5 point favorites, the pressure is on the 9-3 Pac-12 team to come home victorious over Duke. The Foster Farms Bowl, which picked Stanford over ASU, is 30th in the rankings due to a game that features mostly defense. ASU got the short straw in terms of bowl location, but in the conversation of bowl quality, perhaps the Sun Devils didn't get the raw end of the deal.

What are your thoughts on the Sun Bowl? Feel free to say your piece in the comments below.