Indiana has rightfully garnered praise as college football's biggest turnaround story in 2024, but after this past weekend it might be time for the Hoosiers to take a back seat to Arizona State, or at least make room in the front seat.
Following a dominant win over Iowa State in the Big 12 Championship, Arizona State went from 16th (their place in the Big 12 preseason poll, out of 16) to fourth (their seed in the College Football Playoff, as Big 12 champs).
Appearing on ESPN on Sunday, Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham explained how he took Arizona State from 3-9 to 11-2 and counting.
Turns out, the turnaround started at the ping pong table.
"There's a minimum standard of physical ability that's needed to win. Right? Everybody knows that. But the most important thing is the mindset of the person you're recruiting. We said no to a lot of kids that were really talented and we made sure that the guys that are coming in here fit the culture that we wanted to have. And then we have unbelievable leadership," Dillingham said.
"The guys that we brought in here, they love to compete. I can't coach people that don't want to talk a little crap playing ping pong, get their ass beat by me in Madden or 2K or whatever that is. I love to compete. I love it. If you don't love to compete, you're not going to like it here. That's really, I think, what started the turnaround, was getting guys who are just competitive in playing tiddlywinks -- I don't care what it is -- and putting them in the same room together."
In a follow-up question, Dillingham repeated how important the ping pong table is in Arizona State's recruiting process.
"This is a player-led team. We recruited that. I recruited people that are passionate. We recruited people that are competitive. If we play ping pong versus one of our recruits, we beat them and they don't want to play again, this isn't the guy for us," Dillingham said. "I want the guy who's not going to leave the room until he gets his lick back. That's the identity of our football team: a bunch of guys who love competition."