Really late reply, but I was at that game. Made the mistake of getting a little tipsy beforehand. It was one of the biggest backlashes of my life.
When it was 21-3 ASU at halftime with Leinart knocked out (literally), I felt fantastic. And then the heat and bodies just weighed on you, and then Bush and White kicked in and the game mimicked how you felt. They didn't actually run out of water, though they were absolutely sending people away. But you couldn't walk to the bathroom without someone at the stairs on a card table forcing a bottle of water into your hand as you passed.
By the end of the game I was sick to my stomach because of the 2nd half collapse and probably a mild case of heat stroke. It might have said 100 or 102, but with 70 whatever thousand other people around you, it was outright dangerous. Got to AC, still wound up hurling when I tried to eat a good 6 hours after my last drink.
TV sensibilities aside, it is irresponsible to have day games in Arizona, especially in the Valley, early in the season. The place is an oven. You don't even know how much you're sweating.
As for ASU in conference realignment, I think they very much want to avoid the Big 12. Crow, for all his faults, has fought long and hard to bring ASU into the upper echelons of research schools and their association with the Cali schools helps them a lot. They sat on the outside looking in at the AAU despite being qualified forever due their low general college admission standards, despite the actual colleges and R&D side being strong. Now it's basically on par with Michigan State, except they haven't had a medical school for in state political reasons.
Both AAU and the medical school changed within the last 6 months. They got in and they announced the opening of a new medical school, which is an enormous R&D driver. With their pre-existing relationship with the Mayo Clinic, I wouldn't be surprised if Arizona State expects to be a top 25ish or higher research school within the next 10-15 years and, consequently, they very much want to be around their peers... Which the Big 12 doesn't have. Arizona State very strongly feels they are a better fit with the Big 10 (they even play D-1 scholarship hockey now) or the newest versions of SEC which include UT, Aggie, Florida, Vandy, Georgia (still waiting for their AAU invite I think), etc. If the Pac collapses, I think it's almost more likely they and like Cal, Stanford, Utah, etc. try to go indy for a while.