The Territorial Cup in never unimportant.

There has never been a Territorial Cup matchup between Arizona and Arizona State that didn't bring about an abundance of anxiety, excitement, insults, passions and prognostication from both school's fan bases.

While both schools are always hungry to win, they're outright desperate to not lose.

In the 2017 Territorial Cup, the stakes are much higher than which institution will house college football's oldest rivalry trophy for the next 365 days. In this year's game, the legacies of several of Arizona State's coaches and players rest upon the outcome.

The pressure is on.

So let's put all the cards on the table. Let's define exactly what this game means to all involved.

"They're not going to pay you a million dollars a year to win half your games. Nor should they."

That quote is from none other than Arizona State head football coach Todd Graham, prior to the 2015 season. Win or lose, this could be Todd Graham's final game as Arizona State's head coach. Some would be happy to see him go, citing the team's failure to sustain the momentum from back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2013 and 2014, going 17-19 overall, 11-15 in-conference and 4-11 on the road in the last three seasons. The Sun Devils' defense was ranked at or near the bottom of the country in the 2015 and 2016 seasons, and the team with whom ASU has needed to keep pace to compete for the PAC-12 South, USC, has in just the first halves of the last three contests, outscored ASU 93-16.

They're not going to pay you a million dollars a year to win half your games.

If Todd Graham's fate hinges solely on the performance of his players against the University of Arizona, you'd have to think there's part of Graham that would just assume be let go regardless of the outcome. If there's one thing that Todd Graham has spent his energy battling in his time as Arizona State's head football coach, aside from losing subordinates to elevated positions and higher paying gigs, it's the permeating culture of feeling-based actions and reactions taking precedent over the exercising of beliefs and core values.

Todd Graham doesn't care how you feel. He wants to know what it is you believe- and more importantly, he wants you to believe what he believes- that a team defined by the mantra of "character, smart, tough, discipline," can compete for conference and national championships. The idea that he could be fired based on the outcome of a single contest, and the premise that one outcome can ultimately tip the scales in one direction or another, flies in the face of Todd Graham's personal philosophy.

It's simple- Ray Anderson either believes that Todd Graham is the head coach that can create and sustain success at Arizona State, or he doesn't. The continuous speculation and fanning of the "will he or wont he?" flames from sources outside the program only serves to undercut Todd Graham's desire to see his team completely sold on the idea that the "brotherhood" they've established is enough to achieve the goals they've set out to accomplish.

Prior to the 2017 season, Todd Graham told a group of parents who had brought their high-school aged students to a camp at the Sun Devils' practice facility that he favors the mindset of seniors in his program. "Seniors know I'm the last coach they're ever going to have," said Graham. "They don't have any other choice but to listen, and buy in."

One victory may temporarily stay Todd Graham's release, but it certainly won't bring about the security Graham seeks to keep his younger players from the ever-present temptation to tune out a voice that is rumored to be on the precipice of being silenced- nor will it do the program any favors when it comes to recruiting top-tier talent.

Ray Anderson has already demonstrated a willingness to openly express concern about elements of Graham's leadership that he finds lacking. Whether those concerns were that Todd Graham spend less time openly talking of the team's championship aspirations, concerns that Graham conduct himself in a calmer, more television-friendly demeanor on the sidelines, or simply a desire that the team avoid the type of non-competitive point deficits that cause an already fragile fan base to pour out of Sun Devil Stadium en masse at halftime, Anderson has time and time again made his efforts to leave his mark on one of the few athletic programs at the University where he hasn't already made a wholesale change.

Perhaps it's time for Ray Anderson to stop trying to mold what he inherited, and find himself some new clay. Or maybe, all things having been weighed and measured, Ray Anderson feels that this game against University of Arizona is the ultimate test of Todd Graham's ability to be the coach that continues to move Arizona State forward both athletically and academically.

No matter what decision the University comes to regarding Todd Graham's future, the game itself will have a lasting impact on his legacy Arizona State. If the Sun Devils win, the overwhelming consensus from both fans and media will be that the team exceeded expectations. Despite losing winnable games against Texas Tech, San Diego State and UCLA, the broken losing streak against Oregon, the top-5 win over Washington, the broken road losing streak in Corvallis, and the reclaiming of the Territorial Cup, and regaining bowl eligibility will all feed into the narrative that 2017 was a successful campaign.

If fired in the wake of a Territorial Cup win, Todd Graham will undoubtedly go down in Sun Devil history as the coach responsible for executing University President Michael Crow's vision to reshape the football program into the ambassador for the "New American University." Fans will be forever grateful for the way in which Todd Graham rededicated the program to the pursuit of flourishing academically as well as athletically, the increased recruiting profile, both locally and nationally, and the brief, but very real, flirtation with a trip to the College Football Playoff in 2014.

If retained in the wake of a Territorial Cup win, Arizona State will again face monumental expectations, as they did leading up to 2015. If the Sun Devils, who would possibly return two-thirds of this year's starters, manage to somehow meet those expectations and compete with USC for the Pac-12 South title in 2018, Todd Graham may very well become one of the rare tenured coaches in college football, his name synonymous with Arizona State much in the same way that Mark D'Antonio's is with Michigan State, or Mike Gundy with Oklahoma State.

If Arizona State loses to Arizona, especially in similar fashion to the way the team was dismantled by a one-dimensional Wildcats offense in 2016, there will still be those that are grateful for Graham's contributions to the program during his tenure, but the narrative will undoubtedly shift toward the inability for Todd Graham to win the games that truly count. The ugly home loss to Oregon in 2012. The Pac-12 Championship in 2013. The Oregon State and Arizona losses in 2014. The entire 2015 season. The 2016 Territorial Cup. It will all congeal as one single mass of disappointing underachievement.

If the Sun Devils lose to Arizona on Saturday, Todd Graham's time at Arizona State won't ever be about what was. Instead, it will be about what might have been.

Manny Wilkins will be making his 22nd start in the 2017 Territorial Cup. He's 10-11, and has fought through nagging, pervasive injuries to become one of the most effective game-managing quarterbacks in college football. Wilkins has done all this despite working under three offensive coordinators over the last three years.

Manny Wilkins is one of the more divisive signal callers in Arizona State's storied quarterback history, if for no other reason than it seems that he has neither been responsible for Arizona State's success, nor their failures during his time at the helm.

Some of Manny Wilkins' best statistical performances have come in losses, including his career high 372 passing yards and 3 touchdowns in last year's Territorial Cup. Some of Manny Wilkins' worst statistical performances have come in wins, like his back-to-back weeks without a touchdown pass against Washington and Utah earlier this season.

There's a lot to like about Manny Wilkins, especially if you value the same things as Todd Graham- limiting both turnovers and negative plays. Wilkins is averaging 88 pass attempts per interception in 2017, and the team has managed to amass a 10-4 record when Wilkins has positive net rushing yardage.

The bottom line is Manny Wilkins isn't losing this team any games with his decision making. On the other hand, he isn't exactly winning Arizona State any games with his talent, especially when compared to the way that University of Arizona has managed to completely transform their offense, and by extension their overall record, with QB Khalil Tate at the helm.

Manny Wilkins has four highly touted quarterbacks behind him, and a Territorial Cup game ahead of him that could possibly save, or cost, his head coach's job depending on the outcome. That's a lot of pressure for the redshirt junior to be facing.

A win would likely cement the fan base behind him as Arizona State's leader heading into his senior season. A loss could continue calls for Blake Barnett, or a re-examination of a healthy Brady White. 2018 could be the first season in recent history that Arizona State goes into the year knowing who their starting quarterback will be, or it could be the third consecutive year that Manny Wilkins is forced to compete for his job- this time under a new coaching staff that might see a greater risk providing a greater reward in quarterback production.

Kalen Ballage and Demario Richard came to Arizona State at the same time, battled each other for snaps for four straight years, and in the end, have seemingly ended up in two very different places. The 2017 Territorial Cup could go a long way in either cementing, or redeeming their legacies.

Kalen Ballage's talent is undeniable. He's big, strong, fast, versatile, and has provided breathtaking highlight reel plays of him going around, over and through defenders on his way to 2,452 combined rushing/receiving yards and 28 touchdowns.

The problem? Kalen Ballage was likely capable of putting up the same amount of yards and touchdowns in a single season. If that sounds ludicrous, I'll simply point out that one-fourth of his career touchdowns came in a single game.

So why didn't he accomplish more? Was he too versatile? Did his dalliance with the defensive side of the football in the spring of 2015 set him back? Did the bevy of offensive coordinators and coaches stunt his growth? Did Demario Richard's carries keep him from finding a rhythm? Was Arizona State too stubborn to play to his strengths as a runner? Was he misused entirely? These are just a sampling of the questions that have sought to bridge the gap created between the expectations for Ballage as a player, and the reality of his production.

In a season where Kalen Ballage was selected to be the representative for Arizona State at Pac-12 Media Day, and heavily marketed as a dark horse candidate for major national awards, he has just a single touchdown in eight conference games, and has missed time for undisclosed disciplinary reasons.

A solid game against University of Arizona might not erase the fact that Kalen Ballage is Arizona State's largest and most pervasive unsolved conundrum of the Todd Graham era, but there's a lot to be said for ending on a high note. Ballage is fresh off his first 100-yard rushing game of the season against Oregon State, and for the first time this year, it seems as if offensive coordinator Billy Napier has found a way to balance each running back's time on the field. Oregon State's poor rush defense certainly helped the cause, but an ailing University of Arizona defense shouldn't be expected to perform any better than the Beavers.

Demario Richard is finally finding his groove as the smashmouth runner who can wear down a defense and chew up clock. It's a role he played well as a sophomore, but one he struggled to maintain when battling injury as a junior.

For Demario Richard, this game is about hammering away at the record books in the same way Arizona State uses him to hammer away at defenses. If he can manage to gain 313 yards on the ground over his last two games, he'll pass ASU legend J.R. Redmond for 3rd all-time on the career rushing leader list.

There's no reason to think that Arizona State will go away from feeding the ball to Richard in this game, especially coming off three consective 100+ yard rushing performances. Even historically it makes sense- in games where Demario Richard rushes for over 100 yards against the Wildcats, they're 1-0. When he doesn't, they're 0-2.

If Demario Richard wants to have his name amongst the best to ever play at Arizona State, all he needs is yards. If he wants to be thought of in the same conversation as Wilford "Whizzer" White and J.R. Redmond, the Sun Devils need to beat Arizona.

Arizona State has tried to replace A.J. McCollum on multiple occasions. They've started walk-on Tyler McClure. They've tinkered with the idea of moving Cohl Cabral to center. Yet, at the end of the day, they went back to McCollum, and it has started to pay serious dividends.

Arizona State worked hard to flip McCollum from his commitment to Cal out of City College of San Francisco, and while they succeeded, McCollum wasn't academically ready to be a mid-year transfer, and showed up to Arizona State in less-than-ideal shape for a starting PAC-12 offensive lineman. He still managed to start seven games as a junior- perhaps more out of necessity than merit, but as a senior, the offensive line's turnaround from struggling against non-power 5 opponents like San Diego State, to dominating Pac-12 competition, can be directly attributed to McCollum's emergence as a talented run and pass blocker.

McCollum's time at Arizona State was short, and filling the shoes of Nick Kelly, a team captain, couldn't have been easy- but he's got an opportunity to join Nick Kelly as a junior college transfer center whose senior campaign includes a victory in the Territorial Cup.

As Joe Healey of the Speak of the Devils Podcast often says, the worst possible thing that could have happened to Tashon Smallwood was to come to Arizona State and wear the number 90 after Will Sutton left. It's been a struggle for Smallwood to uphold the legacy of Sutton over the last four years (as it would have been for anyone), and having three position coaches in the last three years certainly didn't help. In 2017, however, we're finally starting to see consistent examples of Tashon Smallwood maximizing his ability on the interior of the defensive line.

Smallwood's legacy at Arizona State is already cemented. He's had 31 tackles for a loss, and will end his career with the second-most starts of any defensive player in Arizona State history. This University of Arizona game is simply a shot at redemption for Smallwood, who was on the field for the entirety of the 2016 blowout loss in Tucson, where the Wildcats did nearly all of their damage on the ground. Interior pressure might not be the key to solving the riddle that is Khalil Tate, but shutting down gaps in the running game and making Arizona one-dimensional could certainly help.

Alani "A.J." Latu wasn't expected to be a primary contributor on Phil Bennett's defense heading into 2017, but halfway through the season, Todd Graham was calling Latu his defensive MVP. Latu's versatility, stemming from filling in for anyone on the defensive front seven on any given play over the last two years, has made him an indispensable part of the 2017 Sun Devil defense. Latu is currently tied for first on the team in sacks, and is third in tackles for a loss- this despite missing two games due to injury.

Arizona State can't afford for Latu to do anything other than play the game of his life in the 2017 Territorial Cup. Khalil Tate's mobility and speed around the edge is something Sun Devil fans could have felt confident matching if Koron Crump was healthy, but without Crump, ASU will need to, in part, rely on Latu's instincts to keep Tate contained. It's a tall task for a player that some assumed would be little more than a spot starter in 2017, but since he's proven his mettle, Todd Graham will need every bit of that MVP-level performance to capture this win.

2016 was the year of missed tackles, and D.J. Calhoun seemed to have taken that personally. Despite being the one player against Arizona who seemed to have a nose for the ball (he led the team with eight solo tackles), it wasn't enough to slow down the Wildcats.

This year, in D.J. Calhoun's final PAC-12 contest, he comes in boasting the leading tackling efficiency among all inside linebackers (per Pro Football Focus), and has seemed to transform his game from one in which he used the 40+ pounds of muscle he added since arriving on campus to his advantage, instead of letting his own power get the best of him.

The fundamentally sound play of DJ Calhoun, in conjunction with the health of his linebacker teammate Christian Sam, is directly responsible for the turnaround of Arizona State's defense- and it will need to ultimately be the X-factor if the Sun Devils hope to contain Arizona RB J.J Taylor, much less slow down Khalil Tate.

Calhoun has NFL potential, and while a long career in the pros can certainly erase the stain of any sub-par college football experience, a 1-3 record against the Wildcats will be something that will be tough for Calhoun to stomach, especially if it's his defensive unit that fails to hold up their end.

If you told Arizona State fans that J'Marcus Rhodes and Chad Adams were going to start every game of the 2017 season, they would have had plenty of reason to be confused. If you told them that J'Marcus Rhodes and Chad Adams were part of the reason why Arizona State's secondary rebounded from two years of woeful underperformance, despite the early departures of Kareem Orr, Robbie Robinson, Armand Perry and James Johnson, you would have been accused of insanity.

Rhodes and Adams are 3rd and 4th on the team in total tackles, and share the team lead in forced turnovers (2). The two players, who combined for a total of two tackles in last year's Territorial Cup (both by Adams) were considered barely good enough to see the field for a defense that was ranked last in the PAC-12. Less that a year later, they're being depended on to make sure that the the country's most electric rushing quarterback doesn't manage to get past them if he reaches the second level- and also to make sure they don't sell out on his ability to run and give things up in the passing game.

Rhodes and Adams might be the most important players on the field on Saturday, and it's understandable if Arizona State fans see that as all the more reason to be anxious about Saturday's game. For Rhodes and Adams, however, it's simply an opportunity to put a stamp on an improbable season for them both. No lofty expectations, and nothing to lose. If Arizona State wins, one or both of them could be heroes. If not, two players that were forced into action by roster turnover and a lack of depth gave it their best.

It's more than a game. Legacies are at stake. Jobs are on the line.

The outcome of the 2017 Territorial Cup could very well change the course of history for the Arizona State football program. Will they win, and continue to build on the the progress of 2017 with Todd Graham at the helm? Or will they part ways and attempt to use the platform Graham helped build to assist a new coach in standing tall?

Will Manny Wilkins do enough to help the Sun Devils win? Does he have "enough" to put the game on his shoulders if need be?

Will Kalen Ballage remind the Arizona State faithful of his ability to be great one last time? Will Demario Richard become more than just a name among lofty names, but an elevated persona in Sun Devil lore?

Will this defense, under Phil Bennett, continue to max out the talent of Alani Latu, J'Marcus Rhodes and Chad Adams, while getting the best from established players like Tashon Smallwood and D.J. Calhoun?

Will the fans give Arizona State the homefield advantage they desperately need? Do the weariest of Sun Devil fans want to win, if it means retaining a staff they've lost faith in?

These are questions that can only be answered on Saturday, by the team hungriest to win, and most desperate to not lose.