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A tip of the cap to Arizona State head coach Todd Graham for continuing to be a class act and a strong ambassador for the school, the state and the coaching profession.

The following letter appeared in yesterday's Arizona Republic -- from an Arizona fan. But as you'll read (navigate to the bottom middle of page C2 in the sports section to see the original), school allegiances don't really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.

Coach Graham a hero off the field

I am an alumnus and fan of the University of Arizona, and bleed Wildcat red and blue. I watched ASU coach Todd Graham lead the Sun Devils to a very good season, and by all appearances he has restored some class and discipline to the football program.

But I write about something more important that happened before last football season, when coaches were recruiting players who had been released from their commitment to Penn State. A dear friend of my sister-in-law is a nurse in Phoenix, and his closest friend, also in his early 20s, was dying of cancer in a hospice facility. The nurse left a message for Graham describing the situation with the cancer patient, a big ASU fan. When Graham called, he explained he was about to board a plane to go to Pennsylvania to recruit, and asked if he could visit when he returned. Two days later, when his plane landed at Sky Harbor, Graham did not go to his office or home to see his family. He went immediately to the hospice to see the dying young man. He spent 90 minutes with him -- talking football, encouraging him and praying with him. The young man was in and out of consciousness, but the coach stayed and prayed, even when the patient was not awake. The young man died six hours later.

What Graham did that day meant a lot to the young man and his family. The coach will not blow his own horn but I thought this story should be known. As a U of A fan I will still root against ASU, but I will always root for Graham, a quality coach and more importantly, a quality man.

— J. Gregory Osborne, Tempe

This isn't the first time we've seen this from Graham. We posted a similar letter back in August. Same scenario, different people. And I'm willing to bet this happens a lot more than is actually written about. So once again, kudos to Graham.

We're looking at some of the top individual performances in the Pac-12 in 2012.

Up next: Kelly sinks Navy

Who and against whom: Arizona State quarterback Taylor Kelly put on a clinic in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, leading the Sun Devils to a 62-28 blowout victory over Navy.

The numbers: Kelly completed 17 of 19 passes for 268 yards with four touchdown passes. He also rushed for 81 yards on seven carries (11.6 average) and scored on a 1-yard run, giving him five touchdowns. Worth noting too that his performance gave him a 67.1 completion percentage for the season, a school record for quarterbacks with 300-plus passes.

A closer look: This was a game with multiple offensive MVPs for the Sun Devils -- Rashad Ross caught three touchdown passes and Marion Grice (the game's offensive MVP) rushed for 159 yards and two scores on 14 carries. But it was Kelly who directed the blowout and helped the Sun Devils shatter 20 Kraft Fight Hunger bowl records. A couple of minutes into the game, he hooked up with Ross on a 16-yard strike, then would find Ross again for scores of 52 and 50 yards. His fourth touchdown pass was an 11-yard toss to Alonzo Agwuenu and his 1-yard touchdown run gave the Sun Devils a 21-0 lead at the end of the first. It was an emotionally-charged game with Grice returning a week after his brother's murder. And his 11.4 yards per carry certainly warranted his winning offensive MVP for the game. But Kelly was near perfect with his accuracy, efficient in the air and on the ground and outstanding in helping ASU to its first bowl win since the 2005 Insight Bowl.

Kevin Gemmell answers a reader question about possible Heisman Trophy dark horses in the Pac-12.

Former USC quarterback Matt Barkley isn't working out at the NFL scouting combine, but he's making the rounds with a lot of teams. ESPN.com's AFC East blogger James Walker has the latest on Barkley meeting with nine teams -- including the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.

Writes Walker:

Barkley is one of the great mysteries in this year's draft. He would have been a sure-fire, top-10 pick if he had left school early after the 2011 season. But Barkley chose to come back to USC in 2012, had some flaws in his game exposed and suffered through an injury-plagued season.

The Jets and Bills are desperately looking for quarterbacks. Mark Sanchez and Ryan Fitzpatrick both flopped in New York and Buffalo, respectively, and are not the long-term solutions. Both AFC East teams have top-10 picks and should have a shot at Barkley if they're interested in the first round.

Living in Southern California and having heard "Empire State of Mind" many times, I like to think I have my finger on the pulse of New Yorkers. And if I know them, I'd imagine they'd welcome another USC quarterback with open arms and give him plenty of time to get settled without the burden of expectation. Fugetaboutit.

You can check out Barkley doing the chalk-talk thing here with Steve Mariucci.

Strong day for Jordan

Oregon's Dion Jordan -- once a tight end -- had a very strong performance on Monday, leaving a lot of folks thinking he might crack the top 10. Here are some observations from NFL.com's Bucky Brooks.

Jordan, who is set to undergo surgery after the combine, left a lasting impression on coaches and scouts with his remarkable workout, during which he ran a 4.60-second 40-yard dash and recorded a 32.5-inch vertical and 10-2 broad jump. Additionally, Jordan showed excellent balance, body control and burst while changing directions as a pass rusher in drills. Jordan's natural bend and burst will have some evaluators thinking of him as an elite pass-rushing prospect at the next level. Most importantly, Jordan's exceptional movement skills in space will encourage teams that run a 3-4 to consider him a viable option as an outside linebacker. Versatility and explosiveness are important in hybrid players; Jordan's workout certainly earned him high marks in the eyes of evaluators across the league.

Measurables

Here are the testing results for the defensive linemen and linebackers. Some defensive backs started measurable work on Monday, but the majority will work out on Tuesday. You can see the full workout results here.

40-Yard Dash

Dion Jordan, DL, Oregon: 4.60
Brandon Magee, LB, Arizona State: 4.74
Datone Jones, DL, UCLA: 4.80
Joe Kruger, DL, Utah: 4.83
Chase Thomas, LB, Stanford: 4.91

Bench Press

Datone Jones, DL, UCLA: 29 reps
Joe Kruger, DL, Utah: 24 reps
Chase Thomas, LB, Stanford: 18 reps

Vertical Jump

Joe Kruger, DL, Utah: 34 (inches)
Dion Jordan, DL, Oregon: 32.5
Chase Thomas, LB, Stanford: 32
Datone Jones, DL, UCLA: 31.5

Broad Jump

Dion Jordan, DL, Oregon: 122 (inches)
Joe Kruger, DL, Utah: 117
Brandon Magee, LB, Arizona State: 114
Chase Thomas, LB, Stanford: 113
Datone Jones, DL, UCLA: 112

3-Cone Drill

Chase Thomas, LB, Stanford: 7.17

20-Yard Shuttle

Chase Thomas, LB, Stanford: 4.31

Ted Miller takes at look at the major Pac-12 storylines as we head into spring practices.

We're looking at some of the top individual performances in the Pac-12 in 2012.

Up next: Hello, my name is "Will Sutton." But you can call me "Will Sutton."

Who and against whom: On Sept 29, Arizona State defensive tackle Will Sutton dominated the California offensive line in a 27-17 victory, a win that indicated Sutton and the Sun Devils might be up to something in 2012.

The numbers: Sutton rolled up a career-high eight tackles, which ranked second on the defense, but four of his came for losses and three were sacks. He also forced a fumble and had a quarterback hurry.

A closer look: Sutton played well all season. In fact, one of the distinguishing characteristics of his season was its consistency, which is one big reason he was the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus All-American. But this is the game in which Sutton said, "Hello, world. No one can block me. Which is nice." Before this game, he ranked eighth in the conference in tackles for loss and seventh in sacks. After it, he ranked second in both categories. And he'd end up first in both. He earned Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week for his performance. He led a six-sack attack against the beleaguered Bears offensive line, one that held Cal to just 285 total yards.

ESPN.com's KC Joyner asks "are there any programs slightly below the radar that have set themselves up to make a jump this season?"

And then he names his top "sleeper" teams , a list that includes Arizona State in the Pac-12. The Sun Devils welcome back 16 starters from a team that went 8-5 (5-4 in the Pac-12) and was a game behind UCLA in conference play in 2012.

Joyner likes the Sun Devils because of they return of a good core on defense, surrounded by DT Will Sutton, and offense, topped by QB Taylor Kelly. He also pulls out some interesting numbers.

On defense:

Making another run at the division title looks to be a strong possibility since Arizona State returns eight starters from a defense that ranked second in the conference in yards per play allowed and ranked second nationally in tackles for loss.

And on offense:

The Sun Devils also return quarterback Taylor Kelly, who ranked second in the Pac-12 in passing yards per attempt, completion percentage and passer rating last season. He led an offense last season that ranked fourth in the league in yards per play, behind only Oregon, USC and Arizona.

Joyner sees a sixth conference win for the Sun Devils, and that might be enough to win the South Division. Then they'd have a puncher's chance against the North Division champion -- Oregon or Stanford -- for a spot in the Rose Bowl.

I think the South Division is a toss-up between the Sun Devils and UCLA, and USC might also stick its nose into the race if it gets its collective mind right.

We're looking at some of the top individual performances in the Pac-12 in 2012.

Up next: Tackling machine.

Who and against whom: Arizona State linebacker Brandon Magee was all over the field in ASU's come-from-behind, 41-34 win over Arizona in the Territorial Cup.

The numbers: Magee tallied 17 tackles, 14 solo and three tackles for a loss.

A closer look: Playing in his final Territorial Cup and final Pac-12 game, Magee went crazy with a career high in tackles. The performance put him over the 100-tackle mark for the season, making him the first Sun Devil to break 100 in a single season since Robert James in 2007. With ASU trailing 27-17 and the Wildcats at midfield, he came up with a huge tackle for a loss on third-and-8 to end the quarter. That helped spark a 24-point outburst in the fourth from the ASU offense. The 17 tackles matched the second highest total in a single game in the league in 2012 (Michael Clay had 20 against Stanford, 10 solo).

You can check out some of the other top performances here.

Arizona State has signed 27 players, including nine junior college transfers.

Four are midyear transfers already on campus who will participate in spring practice. The class consists of 16 freshmen, five sophomores and six juniors. The class includes 16 defensive players, 10 offensive players and one specialist.

You can view the official list here.

And here's the list from ESPN recruiting.

Arizona State lost a quarterback to Tennessee and a receiver to Nebraska on signing day.

The big hit was ESPN 300 QB Joshua Dobbs, who signed with Tennessee. The highly rated dual-threat player passed for 3,625 yards and 29 touchdowns and rushed for 419 yards and 10 touchdowns at Alpharetta (Ga.) High School.

Unless the Sun Devils uncover a quarterback after signing day, they will have not signed QB in two years. Dobbs seemed like an ideal fit for the Sun Devils up-tempo offense.

The other loss was four-star athlete Tre'vell Dixon (Baldwin, La./West St. Mary). Just this week he had flipped from Nebraska to Arizona State, but he ultimately gave the Cornhuskers his signature.

ESPN RecruitingNation has signing day covered. Follow ESPNU’s coverage, chat with analysts and get breaking news on our Signing Day Live page beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET through 7 p.m. ET. For more on what to expect on signing day, check out the Pac-12 conference breakdown .

Bold prediction for the Pac-12: UCLA is in a position to shock the conference and perhaps the country on signing day. Already in possession of a top-12 class, the Bruins have a chance to close with a bang, as UCLA is in a good position with ESPN 150 prospects Eddie Vanderdoes, Isaac Savaiinaea and Asiantii Woulard. If all goes well in Westwood on signing day, Jim Mora could finish the day with a top-five recruiting class.

Arizona
Biggest need: Linebacker. Arizona’s defense is in need of some immediate help in all three levels, but the Wildcats will add some serious depth at linebacker with five commitments at the position.
Biggest recruit: QB Jesse Scroggins. A case could be made for either quarterback commitment -- Anu Solomon is the other -- but with Scroggins’ experience at USC and his status as an early enrollee, he could have an advantage when it comes to battling for the vacated starting quarterback spot.

Arizona State
Biggest need: Secondary. Arizona State is set to add plenty of help at the offensive skill positions, but the Sun Devils needed to add depth on the defensive side of the ball, and they did so. Safeties James Johnson and Jayme Otomewo are strong additions, as are cornerbacks Damarious Randall and Will Earley.
Biggest recruit: DT Marcus Hardison. Getting defensive tackle Will Sutton back for another year was a big win for Arizona State’s defense. Getting the No. 5 junior college player in Hardison, a 6-foot-4, 275-pound defensive tackle who can help Sutton inside this year, is another big win.

California
Biggest need: Offensive line. With head coach Sonny Dykes and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, Cal is looking to take off offensively, but that can’t happen without a dominant front. Six offensive line commitments, including four-star tackles Aaron Cochran and Erik Bunte, are a good way to continue building up front.
Biggest recruit: OT Aaron Cochran. This is true figuratively and literally. Cochran, at 6-foot-8 and 364 pounds, is an important recruit for Cal, as the offensive tackle plays a position of need. He is the younger brother of Cal lineman Matt Cochran. Honorable mention here to Cameron Hunt, who committed to Cal last summer but opened his recruitment after the coaching change and now appears to be headed to Oregon.

Colorado
Biggest need: Offensive line. The Buffaloes need help everywhere, but solidifying the offensive line is step one for the new regime. Colorado holds commitments from five offensive linemen as it looks to take a step forward in the Pac-12.
Biggest recruit: QB Sefo Liufau. While building along the lines is important, Colorado needs to add playmakers at every position, and Liufau is definitely that at quarterback. He understands and appreciates the challenge at Colorado and is the kind of player the Buffs need to bring in and build around.

Oregon
Biggest need: Running back. While the Ducks have been blessed with an embarrassment of riches at tailback, it’s important that they continue to stock the cupboard in order to keep finding those gems and running the blur offense. Three tailbacks were a possibility in this class, as there will be an opportunity for playing time.
Biggest recruit: RB Thomas Tyner. This was big on two fronts as Tyner has an opportunity to contribute as a freshman, and the Ducks were able to keep Oregon’s top recruit from leaving the state. Tyner’s commitment became even more important when Dontre Wilson flipped from Oregon to Ohio State on Monday.

Oregon State
Biggest need: Defensive line. The Beavers looked to get bigger and better up front and did so in a big way. Six defensive linemen are headed to Corvallis, including four junior college defensive tackles capable of playing as soon as they arrive on campus.
Biggest recruit: CB Dashon Hunt. Oregon State needed to add talent in the secondary as well and Hunt -- the Beavers’ lone ESPN 300 commitment -- will help there. Hunt’s commitment also helped Oregon State continue its presence in Southern California, which it recruited extremely well with this class.

Stanford
Biggest need: Wide receiver. The Cardinal needed to add receiving threats in this class, and adding wide receivers Francis Owusu and Taijuan Thomas did that. Of course, at Stanford, no position poses more of an offensive threat than tight end, and the Cardinal have commitments from three high school standouts who will suit up there.
Biggest recruit: WR Jordan Cunningham. As the Cardinal continue to hunt for pass-catchers in this class, snagging Cunningham -- an ESPN 150 wide receiver -- on signing day would nicely cap an undermanned but still impressive recruiting class. It would also carry over Stanford’s terrific signing-day success from last year.

UCLA
Biggest need: Offensive line. While it might not be the most immediate need for the roster, the UCLA coaches saw a need to infuse the offensive line with young talent and they went out and did just that. There are offensive line recruits, including two ESPN 300 prospects and a third four-star lineman.
Biggest recruit: DT Eddie Vanderdoes. The country’s top defensive tackle will announce at 5 p.m. PT and the Bruins are thought to be in good position. Landing Vanderdoes -- a former USC commitment -- would be another positive sign for the Bruins in their quest to tip the rivalry in their favor.

USC
Biggest need: Secondary. The Trojans have been shaky in the secondary for several years now and are in need of players capable of adding depth and perhaps playing as freshmen. Signing day could offer a disappointment if cornerback Jalen Ramsey goes elsewhere, but the early enrollee group of safeties Su’a Cravens and Leon McQuay and cornerback Chris Hawkins, gives the Trojans three players capable of stepping in and offering a solution to the pass defense troubles.
Biggest recruit: S Su’a Cravens. USC is set to add plenty of impact players in this recruiting class, but landing Cravens as an early enrollee was huge. A local player who plays a position of need and has the talent to make an impact as a freshman, Cravens was as close to a must-get recruit as the Trojans had in this class.

Utah
Biggest need: Running back. With John White finished at Utah, the Utes have just one player returning in 2013 who logged more than 25 carries last season. While there are several tailbacks on the roster, Utah looked to add talent at the tailback position in this class and did so with four commitments from running backs, including junior college back Devontae Booker.
Biggest recruit: DT Lowell Lotulelei. There is no guarantee that the defensive tackle will turn into his older brother, Star Lotulelei, a likely top-five pick in the upcoming NFL draft. But getting a commitment from Lowell Lotulelei was arguably the most important piece of Utah’s recruiting puzzle. The four-star defensive tackle is Utah’s top-ranked commitment and will look to take over where his brother left off.

Washington
Biggest need: Offensive line. The Huskies hoped to find several big bodies to position as the future of the offensive line in this class and have commitments from three high school linemen, including four-star center Dane Crane. While the Huskies lost a commitment from Sean Harlow, who flipped to Oregon State, they could make up for it in a big way by grabbing ESPN 300 tackle Nico Falah away from USC on signing day.
Biggest recruit: WR Damore’ea Stringfellow. The highest-ranked player in the class, the ESPN 150 wide receiver is a playmaker capable of providing an immediate spark for Washington’s offense. He also gives the Huskies a big recruiting win in Southern California, as he was sought after by UCLA and USC.

Washington State
Biggest need: Offensive line. While much of the attention with Mike Leach’s offense goes to the offensive skill players, it can’t take off without an effective offensive line. Six offensive linemen, including junior college tackle Jacob Seydel, are headed to Pullman in this class.
Biggest recruit: QB Tyler Bruggman. The Cougars won a big recruiting battle for Bruggman, as they were able to pull him away from hometown Arizona State. He was someone Washington State targeted early on as a player who could fit into and succeed in the offense.

While it's debatable how important penalty yards per game is as a measure of a successful team -- you'll see a number of top-25 teams ranked at the bottom here -- there's no question that Arizona State's excessive penalty yards in 2011 spoke to a lack of discipline.

There are good penalties and bad penalties. Penalties of choice that cannot possibly help your team -- personal fouls/unsportsmanlike conduct or false starts -- are bad, while actions contrary to rules when you're trying to get an advantage -- holding, pass interference -- can be good, at least when you get away with such behavior on other plays.

The Sun Devils in 2011 mostly did the bad ones when they ranked last in the nation in penalty yards per game. They just did stupid things that hurt themselves, often at critical moments in the game. Over and over again. They were quintessentially undisciplined.

When Todd Graham was hired before the 2012 season, he promised more discipline. And he 100 percent delivered on that promise.

The Sun Devils moved up from last to eighth in the nation, with 34.92 penalty yards per game in 2012. That's 44.85 yards per game better in 2012 than in 2011, which is darn near like moving from the goal line to midfield.

Not only that, the school's sports information department determined the 2012 Sun Devils posted seven of the 10 least penalized games for the program since the 2006 season.

Consider:

Pen/Yards Opponent (Date)
1-5 -- vs. Illinois (2012)
1-5 -- vs. Washington State (2006)
2-10 -- vs. Oregon (2012)
1-15 -- vs. California (2012)
3-20 -- vs. UCLA (2006)
3-20 -- vs. USC (2007)
2-25 -- vs. Navy (2012)
3-30 -- vs. Oregon State (2012)
4-30 -- vs. Washington State (2012)
4-30 -- vs. Northern Arizona (2012)

Plenty of bad teams don't get many penalties. Kansas, for example, ranked third in the nation in penalty yards per game. And plenty of good ones get a lot of penalties: Texas A&M, Florida State, LSU, Ohio State, Florida and Oregon ranked between 79th and 114th in the nation in penalty yards last fall.

Still, there surely were more than a few rolled eyeballs when Graham spoke of a "culture change" when he was hired. This is a tangible measure that he delivered one.

You know, other than posting the program's first winning season in the regular season since 2007.

We've been handing out individual grades to each team with our 2012 team-by-team season review. But on the whole, what grade does the Pac-12 get? That's the question your bloggers are tackling this week.

Ted Miller: The Pac-12's 2012 season gets a B-minus.

There were some positives and some negatives. The poor showing in the bowl games, however, did significant damage. The conference was favored in seven of eight bowls and went just 4-4.

That led to just three Pac-12 teams ending up in the final top-25 rankings. Instead of showcasing the depth that had typified most of the season, the Pac-12 ended up looking top-heavy.

The good news is two top-seven teams, with Oregon finishing No. 2 in both polls and Stanford finishing seventh and sixth (Associated Press and coaches' polls, respectively). Both won BCS bowl games. Despite USC's epic and widely mocked collapse as the first preseason No. 1 to lose six games, the Pac-12 remained relevant nationally.

The Pac-12 was 21-14 versus FBS competition this year, including an 8-8 mark vs. other AQ conferences. Best victories? Oregon over then-No. 5 Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl, Arizona over Oklahoma State, Oregon State and Stanford over Wisconsin and UCLA over Nebraska. Stanford's win over San Jose State certainly looked much better by season's end, too.

The conference had a strong position in the debate versus the Big 12 for second best league. It moved solidly in front of the Big Ten and ACC along those lines.

But there's a lot of what-could-have-been had the end of the regular season and bowls gone differently. Arizona, UCLA and Washington were in position to join Oregon, Stanford and Oregon State in the final polls if they'd taken care of business. The Wildcats and Huskies both lost rivalry games as favorites -- the Huskies as a substantial favorite over Washington State. UCLA imploded in the Holiday Bowl against Baylor, while Washington yielded a last-second field goal to Boise State, which killed an impressive MAACO Bowl comeback.

Five or six ranked teams along with two in the top seven would have made a strong statement nationally, one that would have carried over to the 2013 preseason ranking. While folks often say it's not where you start, it's where you finish, college football followers know that the former tends to help the latter.

So it was a pretty good season for the Pac-12. It just could have been much better.

Kevin Gemmell: There's really only one way to describe the Pac-12 on the whole this year: inconsistent. It was so top-heavy with Stanford and Oregon, so bottom-light with Colorado and Washington State, and just a glob of good, bad and what-the-heck-was-that? jammed in between.

So grading the overall season creates some challenges. You'd like to give an A to the conference for winning two BCS bowl games. Not unlike the NCAA tournament, this is where conference reputations are earned. And the fact that only the SEC and Pac-12 had multiple teams ranked in the final top 10 is impressive. But it could have been so much better.

As Ted notes, losing four bowl games -- when the conference was favored in seven of eight -- is a blight on the season. And I'm going to ding the conference a little harder for that and hand out a C-plus overall.

The expectations for the Pac-12 as a whole were much higher than where it actually finished. Stanford picked up the slack by exceeding expectations, so big snaps to the Cardinal for its second BCS bowl victory in three seasons. But no team in the history of college football disappointed liked USC. Three losses would have been a bummer of a season for the Trojans. Six is inexcusable.

Much like a driver's test, I started with a perfect score of 100 and deducted points along the way as I went through the season in my head.

• Failing to win a national championship despite having two teams ranked No. 1 early and later in the season: minus-5 (95 total)
• The preseason No. 1 lost six games for the first time since the history of history: minus-5 (90).
• The league lost three bowl games in which its teams were favored, including two against the Big 12 (the window has passed for the Cody Vaz just got sacked again jokes): minus-5 (85).
• A conference member lost to an FCS team: minus-5 (80).
• No Heisman Trophy finalists (though there should have been): minus-2 (78, final grade).

Ted has talked about as many as eight Pac-12 teams being ranked to start the 2013 season. Of course, I'd like to see that -- but I don't believe it will happen. Because the national perception of the league right now is that it's Stanford and Oregon -- and then a stew of teams with an abundance of question marks. And people are right to think that way given what happened in the postseason. Besides the BCS wins (again, very, very good), the other two victories were a blowout over an independent service academy and a miracle against a Mountain West team. Don't get me wrong, I loved Arizona's win. But the Cats certainly didn't leave people thinking the middle of the Pac-12 is a force to be reckoned with.

Utah saw its nine-year bowl stretch come to an end. Washington State was one bad storyline after another and poor Colorado, bless 'em for the effort, just looked lost. There were too many gags and gaffes along the way to merit anything better than slightly above average when looking at the league on the whole.

Arizona State's defensive line, already bolstered by the return of Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Will Sutton, got some more good news Friday with the commitment of Dodge City (Kan.) Community College defensive end Marcus Hardison, the No. 5 player in the ESPN Junior College 100.

Hardison, 6-foot-4, 275 pounds, chose the Sun Devils over Kansas State, West Virginia, Washington, South Florida and Auburn, but he also had offers from programs such as Oklahoma, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Oklahoma State and TCU.

Hardison became the 25th known commitment for the Sun Devils, and the eighth junior-college pledge. He's the third defensive end commitment to go along with four-star Garrett Marino (Mission Viejo, Calif./Mission Viejo), the No. 31 defensive end overall, and Kisima Jagne (Chandler, Ariz./Chandler).

With Arizona State DT Will Sutton's decision to return for his senior season, does that mean the Sun Devils move up in the Pac-12 power rankings?