According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, Arizona State football has self-imposed a one-year bowl ban on the program stemming from violations committed under former head coach Herm Edwards. Most likely, the program and university took this action in order to avoid further suspension or penalties.
The team was notified of the bowl ban on Sunday morning. The meeting was considered "devastating" to the players, per reports, who have been working all year for this season.
In the midst of this investigation in Tempe, five assistant coaches were fired or left the staff voluntarily.
One of the other reasons that Arizona State decided to self-report is that the athletics programs will be moving conferences to the Big 12 next season, wanting to have any bowl ban behind them before joining their new league.
Clearly, the most unfortunate part is that the players are the ones to suffer for the former coaching staff's mistakes.
Arizona State football: Kenny Dillingham era under way with self-imposed bowl ban
With the number of transfers that the Sun Devils have taken in, it might have been hard for the school to reach the six or seven-win mark and reach a bowl game. For new head coach Kenny Dillingham, though, having to recruit with a bowl ban hanging over the program would've been difficult. This move, hopefully, puts it behind the Arizona State football team and should open up more doors on the recruiting trail.
An incident that might have cost two or maybe even three years of bowl eligibility would have hurt this program exponentially more than the hopeful one-year ban they've self-imposed. While this gives Dillingham the best chance of success going forward, it really does hurt the seniors and upperclassmen on the roster who have worked tirelessly to get to this point.
In the longview, however, Dillingham can better set up Arizona State football for its move to the Big 12 and beyond if the self-imposed bowl ban suffices for the NCAA's punishment.
