When Thursday’s Big 12 football availability report was released and Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt skipped over questionable status from probable to doubtful, a lot of hands hit DEFCON 1.
More than just concern and speculation as to the state of Leavitt — backup Jeff Sims is in line to start on Saturday against Utah (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) — it raised an early question of how these reports are being handled.
Transparency is always the goal, according to ASU athletic director Graham Rossini, but he said the new reports are classified under “availability” rather than “injury” for a reason.
“I think the one important distinction is that we’re calling it availability report,” Rossini told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Friday. “Certainly injuries are going to be a lion’s share for the reason that you list a player on there. But there’s a lot of things going on right now. If there’s family dynamics at play or there’s academic reasons.
“The availability report is supposed to be broader than just injuries.”
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Rossini said speculation is a part of the modern world, and that he is all for becoming “more transparent” about the status of players amidst conference play.
The current Big 12 availability reports list respective players as “probable,” “questionable,” “doubtful” and “out.” There are three versions of the report, updates coming at 7 p.m. MST three nights, two nights and one night prior to game day. About 90 minutes before kickoff, a final update is given and it designates players as simply “available” or “out.”
ASU coach Kenny Dillingham said Friday morning on Bickley & Marotta it would require a “mini miracle” for Leavitt to suit up versus the Utes, and ASU confirmed to Arizona Sports he will not play.
“I can tell you his teammates love him. His coaches love him and they’re excited that he’s got an opportunity to step in while Sam (Leavitt) is down this weekend.”
ASU athletic director Graham Rossini details how confident the Sun Devils are in Jeff Sims’ ability to step up… pic.twitter.com/QwqIIGSgmX
— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) October 10, 2025
Rossini says Utah is an athletic department to model ASU after
Heading into Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday night, Rossini said Utah taken as a whole athletic department would be one of school’s he tries to emulate in Tempe.
Rossini has known Utah athletic director Mark Harlan since the late stages of both schools belonging to the Pac-12 and admittedly had to get over Harlan’s ties to the Arizona Wildcats as a former graduate. More than anything else on the surface, Rossini is most impressed by the “incredible following in Salt Lake City.”
“They’ve got a great fan base,” Rossini said. “They’ve done an incredible job with their facilities. They do a really great job with their in-game entertainment and even in their football stadium they’ve done a lot of the same modifications that we’ve been talking about.
“We’ll take advantage of the time on the ground (on Saturday) to see some of their facilities, talk to some of their staff and make sure that we’re coming away from the road trip with some ideas and some thoughts that may make sense to incorporate back in Tempe.”
Update on fan interest for 2026 ASU-Kansas matchup in London
A Week 3 game in 2026 between ASU and Kansas at London’s Wembley Stadium was officially confirmed by the Big 12 on Oct. 1 and general sale tickets were first available on Thursday.
Rossini said ASU has already sold “about 50%” of its allotted tickets for the first FBS football game ever to be played in London.
“That’s a pretty incredible testament to what Coach Dillingham’s building, the interest in the program, the fact that people are willing to travel internationally to watch these guys compete on a global stage,” Rossini said.
Some of the presale ticketing process was “a clunky rollout,” according to Rossini, but a lot of fan feedback helped “refine a (third-party) process in real time.”
Catch ASU-Utah on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. MST on 98.7 and the Arizona Sports app. It will be televised on ESPN.
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