Temperature was the theme of the Arizona State Sun Devils' 2017 offseason- but it had nothing to do with Tempe's summertime heat.

"Is Todd Graham on the hot seat?"

"Just how warm is his seat?"

"What will it take for Todd Graham to get off the hot seat?"Websites dedicated to predicting whether coaches would be fired had Graham at or near the top. Las Vegas oddsmakers seemed to feel the same.

Graham's conversations and interviews at Pac-12 Media Days all seemed to either directly reference his job status- something he bristled at nearly every time it was brought up.

The talk, however, was plenty justified. Arizona State, heading into 2017 Pac-12 play, had only won one of their previous nine games. They hadn't won on the road in the Pac-12 since beating UCLA in 2015. The defense of the supposedly defensive-minded coach was among the nations' worst, and their previously lauded running back duo spent 2016 barely averaging a combined four yards per carry. There were other signs as well- for the first time in four years, Arizona State neglected to give Todd Graham his customary one-year contract extension. Assistant coaches, while most were taking promotions and/or raises, were leaving the program at an unprecedented rate.

Todd Graham had to know that a 1-2 start in non-conference play would only intensify the "hot seat" talk- after all, this is the same man who said to a table full of reporters during 2015's Pac-12 Media Days "They're not going to pay you millions of dollars to win half your games."

A simple acknowledgement that you have to win to stay employed in this league became the self-admission and consistent reminder that mediocrity was gradually warming the head coach's chair.

Fast forward five weeks, in the aftermath of a valiant comeback effort in Lubbock, Texas that was thwarted by the Red Raiders, and all of the sudden, Todd Graham and the Arizona State Sun Devils find themselves in a position to take sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 South with a home win over University of Southern California.

They vanquished a 13-year losing streak to Oregon. They beat Washington, their first win over an Associated Press Top 5 team in over two decades, and they physically dominated a Utah team for their first Pac-12 road win in over two years.

How did we get here- from hot seat to hot streak in just over a month's time? As Demario Richard, Manny Wilkins, Christian Sam and J'Marcus Rhodes put it no less than 20 times in their postgame comments following Arizona State's 30-10 road win over Utah- "Practice."

As Justin Toscano noted in his recap of the win, Christian Sam summed up this team's practice philosophy, and how it has translated to on-field success after struggling earlier in the season-

“If we know we just keep plugging, keep plugging, keep plugging, something is going to break. The dam is broke. Now we just got to reset the standard.”

That standard Christian Sam is talking about resetting? Championships.

Todd Graham came in talking about Pac-12 South, Pac-12 League, and National Championships as a real possibility for Arizona State. While we've seen a more muted version of Todd Graham during the team's struggles- over the last five weeks, which have included three Pac-12 victories, as well as a clear path open up in which the potential to compete for the Pac-12 South exists, we're starting to see that confidence resurface.

Before the Arizona State win over Washington, Todd Graham told ASU President Michael Crow he'd be bringing him a winning game ball. After the victory at Utah, Graham issued a challenge to the Arizona State fan base and student body to pack out Sun Devil Stadium for next week's game against USC- and while it's clear that he believes the more invested and excited the home crowd is, the better chance his team has to win- I also believe Todd Graham wants to show as many people as he can, in person, exactly what the team many thought he had lost, is made of.

But the question remains- how exactly did Arizona State improve so quickly? As Doug Haller of the Arizona Republic pointed out to the players in the postgame press conference in Salt Lake City- the team, like every college team, had been practicing all year, so how can practices that took place over the last month have the Sun Devils looking like world beaters? Todd Graham's answer? The team, as well as the coaching staff, has finally found their 'groove.'

"It's like a timing belt on an old car," said Graham. "We're just trying to get the timing belt to grab."

Graham also gave credit to some of the personnel decisions and adjustments the coaching staff has made, but ultimately said that the success of the players Arizona State puts on the field ultimately comes down to his two first-year coordinators and three new assistants finding ways to use the players' existing talents and strengths rather than bending them toward any type of new offensive or defensive philosophy.

"Both our coordinators have come in and adapted tremendously," said Graham. "That's one of the things I fought really hard against, too, because our players deserve that opportunity to do the things they were recruited to do."

But not every player is doing what they were recruited to do- Jay Jay Wilson, a talented athlete who came into the season expected to make an impact at tight end, but ultimately struggled and made the switch to defense to replace an injured Koron Crump, is exhibiting another side of what Todd Graham as aspired to bring to the table- character and unselfishness.

"Talk about a guy that's unselfish. If he was still on offense, he'd be playing, no question about that," said Graham. "We had a need when Crump went down... I went and talked to him and said 'we need you to do this, long term for our defense, we need you to do this.' I'm glad he did."

"It speaks volumes about the character of our guys, that you have guys that are willing to do maybe what's not best for them, but what's best for the team."

While early in the season, it felt that Todd Graham had hopped out of the frying pan, and into the fryer- his team is one week away from helping him hop off the hot seat, and into first place.

"I like our kids' maturity, their mental maturity and how they're working, and we're getting better," said Graham. "And we've got to go to work and we've got to be better, because we're playing the best team in our league his week."

If things go according to plan for Todd Graham and the Arizona State Sun Devils, they won't be playing the best team in the Pac-12 South next week- they'll be the best team in the Pac-12 South next week.

And there's no cooler, nor more comfortable seat, than one that's perched atop the division.