Where did the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl rank among postseason games?

In the immediate aftermath of Duke’s 42-39 victory over Arizona in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl, there was a feeling that the game offered up an instant classic.

There was a lot of scoring on New Year’s Eve, a game decided in the final snaps and a giant bowl of fake cereal that players celebrated by jumping in — a bunch.

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People who rank such things were entertained. In bowl rankings that have appeared since the CFP National Championship game, the Sun Bowl rated sixth out of 41 bowls in one listing and seventh out of 47 in the other (one counted non-bowl playoff games and an FCS bowl).

Both the CBS Sports and College Football News rankings had the Sun Bowl behind the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, and, interestingly, the Hawaii Bowl. CBS, which on the whole had higher ratings than CFN for non-playoff bowls, had the Sun Bowl behind the New Mexico Bowl.

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Obviously, these rankings are completely subjective and up to the author. CFN described their list as “best to worst,” while CBS Sports used the word “thrills” in its headline. Neither listed any criteria or factors.

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CBS Sports: Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl sixth out of 41

Of note, the CBS Sports rankings didn’t include the four campus site playoff games or the national championship, which technically aren’t bowls.

CBS Sports said, “The ACC champions won their ninth game in shootout fashion behind four touchdown passes and 327 yards from Darian Mensah. His 17-yard strike to Que’Sean Brown with 2:10 left was the dagger for the Blue Devils, who were left out of the playoff in favor of James Madison despite winning the league title over Virginia in early December. Nate Sheppard rushed for 170 yards and a score for Duke, which won despite allowing 619 yards of total offense to the Sun Devils.”

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It had the Sun Bowl 12th on its projected pro-bowl rankings.

CBS Sports top 6

2. Sugar Bowl: Miami 39, Georgia 34

3. Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii 35, Cal 31

4. New Mexico Bowl: North Texas 49, San Diego 47

5. Pop Tarts Bowl: Brigham Young 25, Georgia Tech 21

6. Sun Bowl: Duke 42, Arizona 39

The full rankings are here.

More: Duke QB Mensah wins Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl MVP award

CFN: Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl 7th out of 47

Of note, the CFN rankings include the five playoff games that weren’t officially bowls, as well as the Celebration Bowl between the MEAC and SWAC champions (the two historically Black conferences in the FCS).

CFN said, “This was as fun as a bowl game can get, with lots of scoring, big plays, a good comeback, great quarterback play, and a celebration of cereal.

“The two teams combined for well over 1,100 yards, with Duke’s Darian Mensah going off late to balance out a massive day from ASU’s Jeff Sims.

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“The Sun Devils got two late touchdown passes from Sims to go up 39-35, and had the game all but won after stopping the Blue Devils on fourth down.

“ASU was trying to run out the clock, lost a fumble trying to run out the clock, and Mensah came through with a 17-yard touchdown pass for the winning score.”

CFN’s Past Post-Bowl Rankings for the Sun Bowl: 2024: 4 (Louisville 35, Washington 34), 2023: 41 (Notre Dame 40, Oregon State 8), 2022: 5 (Pitt 37, UCLA 35), 2021: 13 (Central Michigan 24, Washington State 21), 2020: NA, 2019: 21 (Arizona State 20, Florida State 14)

CFN top 6

1. Sugar Bowl: Miami 39, Georgia 34

2. Hawaii Bowl: Hawaii 35, Cal 31

3. Fiesta Bowl: Miami 31, Ole Miss 27

4. Cricket Celebration Bowl: South Carolina State 40, Prairie View A&M 38, 4OT

5. Cotton Bowl: Miami 24, Ohio State 14

6. 1st round playoff: Miami 10, Texas A&M 3

7. Sun Bowl: Duke 42, Arizona State 39

The full top 10 is here. The full list is here.

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Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: How good was this year’s Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl? See the rankings