👋 GOOD MORNING — Happy Wednesday! We’re halfway home, and I hope your week is going well.
Sad news out of Chase Field yesterday, as the D-backs announced outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. tore his ACL Monday night while trying to avoid a collision with Blaze Alexander. It not only adds to the seemingly endless parade of injuries this season, but this kind of injury is likely to take a significant chunk out of his 2026 season, as well.
No timetable has been provided by the team, but given this development, it will be interesting to see what happens with his $13 million option next season … you’ve got to think he’ll pick it up as opposed to testing the market.
Make sure to stay tuned to our amazing PHNX Diamondbacks crew for everything D-backs related.
On to the show!
— Patrick Brown, PHNX Sports Daily Editor
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Big 12 Football Power Rankings: Week 2
Graphic credit: Noah Wulbrecht
Welp, that didn’t take very long for the typical Big 12 craziness to commence.
Is TCU a juggernaut? Is Kansas State due for a massively disappointing season? So many questions, so few answers, but hey, that’s why they play the games. Now that every Big 12 team has at least one game under its belt, let’s take a look at how things shake out after a week of play.
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Here’s what this week’s schedule looks like:
Week 2 Games:
Iowa at No. 16 Iowa State (9 am, FOX)
Baylor at No. 17 SMU (9 am, CW Network)
Kent State at No. 24 Texas Tech (9 am, TNT/HBO Max)
Oklahoma State at No. 6 Oregon (12:30 pm, CBS)
Kansas at Missouri (12:30 pm, ESPN2)
Bowling Green at Cincinnati (12:30 pm, ESPN+)
Delaware at Colorado (12:30 pm, FOX)
West Virginia at Ohio (1 pm, ESPNU)
Cal Poly at No. 25 Utah (3 pm, ESPN+)
Army at Kansas State (4 pm, ESPN)
Houston at Rice (4 pm, ESPN+)
North Carolina A&T at UCF (4 pm, ESPN+)
No. 12 Arizona State at Mississippi State (4:30 pm, ESPN2)
Weber State at Arizona (7 pm, ESPN+)
Stanford at BYU (7:15 pm, ESPN)
TCU (idle)
Big 12 Power Rankings, Week 2: Kansas State Plummets While Cyclones Grab No. 2 Spot
1 - Arizona State (1-0): I’m adamant that the Sun Devils remain in the top spot until they lose a game. Saturday’s win over the Lumberjacks may not have been as flashy as fans had hoped, but a win is a win, and keep in mind NAU recorded a meaningless touchdown in the waning moments to make the score look a smidge more respectable.
Last Week’s Result: W, 38-19 vs. Northern Arizona
Last Week’s Ranking: 12 - Iowa State (2-0, 1-0 Big 12): The Cyclones have climbed two spots in two weeks with wins over then-ranked Kansas State and demolishing a respectable FCS program in South Dakota. We’ll learn a lot about this team on Saturday when it squares off against Iowa in a battle for the CyHawk Trophy.
Last Week’s Result: W, 55-7 vs. South Dakota
Last Week’s Ranking: 33 - Texas Tech (1-0): Not a huge reason to drop the Red Raiders, but at the same time, Iowa State’s body of work to this point has been far more impressive. A 67-7 win looks good on paper, but I’m eyeballing Tech’s Week 4 matchup against No. 25 Utah to give us some good insight.
Last Week’s Result: W, 67-7 vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Last Week’s Ranking: 24 — Utah (1-0): The Utes destroyed UCLA 43-10 at the Rose Bowl on Saturday, easing the memory of a bitterly disappointing 2024 campaign. Utah has snuck in at No. 25 in the AP poll (26th in the coaches poll), and have a good shot at getting out of the gate 3-0 before their date with the Red Raiders.
Last Week’s Result: W, 43-10 at UCLA
Last Week’s Ranking: 55 — TCU (1-0): Belichick who? You have to credit the Horned Frogs, who waltzed into Chapel Hill and destroyed North Carolina. That was a tall order to tune out all of the noise, but TCU put on a master class in its first game of the season.
Last Week’s Result: W, 48-14 at North Carolina
Last Week’s Ranking: 86 — Kansas (2-0): The Jayhawks couldn’t have started the season any better, and while I expected them to be much-improved this season, there are still a lot of unknowns as they head to Columbia to face Mizzou this weekend. The Tigers are a 6.5 point favorite out of the gate.
Last Week’s Result: W, 46-7 vs. Wagner
Last Week’s Ranking: 77 — Arizona (1-0): Huge jump for the Wildcats after an impressive showing against the Rainbow Warriors. Arizona, much like Utah, suffered a disappointing 2024 despite entering the season with elevated expectations, and they’re likely to head into a week 3 matchup at home against Kansas State with a pair of wins unless Weber State pulls off the unthinkable on Saturday.
Last Week’s Result: W, 40-6 vs. Hawai’i
Last Week’s Ranking: 128 — BYU (1-0): Portland State was hardly a challenge, but what are you supposed to do, penalize them for putting up nearly 70 points without allowing the opposition to score? Impressive with for the Cougars, who have much higher aspirations this season.
Last Week’s Result: W, 69-0 vs. Portland State
Last Week’s Ranking: 119 — Houston (1-0): It’s not that a win over Stephen F. Austin is that impressive, but hey, a shutout is a shutout, and Houston officially hasn’t allowed a point yet this season. That’s got to count for something.
Last Week’s Result: W, 27-0 vs. Stephen F. Austin
Last Week’s Ranking: 10
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Best of the Rest:
10 — Kansas State (1-1)
Last Week’s Result: W, 38-35 vs. North Dakota
Last Week’s Ranking: 411 — Oklahoma State (1-0)
Last Week’s Result: W, 27-7 vs. UT Martin
Last Week’s Ranking: 1412 — Baylor (0-1)
Last Week’s Result: L, 38-24 vs. Auburn
Last Week’s Ranking: 613 — West Virginia (1-0)
Last Week’s Result: W, 45-3 vs. Robert Morris
Last Week’s Ranking: 1514 — Colorado (0-1)
Last Week’s Result: L, 27-20 vs. Georgia Tech
Last Week’s Ranking: 915 — Cincinnati (0-1)
Last Week’s Result: L, 20-17 vs. Nebraska
Last Week’s Ranking: 1316 — UCF (1-0)
Last Week’s Result: W, 17-10 vs. Jacksonville State
Last Week’s Ranking: 16
Agree? Disagree? Email me at [email protected] OR by simply responding to this email and sound off!
Jordan-esque: The D-backs rallied to top the Rangers 5-3 last night, led by Ketel Marte’s three-run home run in the seventh inning. Rookie Jordan Lawlar finally recorded his first Major League hit after starting 0-for-31, and finished the night 2-for-3 with a run scored. Congrats, Jordan!
The D-backs and Rangers finish their series this afternoon at 12:40 pm and have Thursday off before hosting the Red Sox this weekend.
Sky’s the Limit: The Mercury won their fifth straight game yesterday, beating Indiana 85-79 to close out a perfect three-game home stand. Alyssa Thomas (who else?) led the team with 23 points while adding nine rebounds and nine assists, and Phoenix is tied with Las Vegas and Atlanta for the second-best record in the league.
The Mercury now head to Washington (Thursday) and Connecticut (Saturday) before returning to The Valley for their final home game of the regular season on Sept. 9.
Creating a Spark: Congrats to Sun Devil punter Kanyon Floyd, who was named Big 12 Co-Special Team Player of the Week, along with Iowa State kicker Kyle Konrardy. Not to be outdone the ASU women’s volleyball team also had a student athlete recognized yesterday, as junior opposite Noemie Glover was named the season’s first Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week.
Congrats to all!
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MVP! MVP!
MVP sequence from Alyssa Thomas
Fever on a run, Alyssa Thomas sends a double at Aliyah Boston to then kick Kat Westbeld out off the matchup
Throws their rhythm off, leads to a stop & it's both Thomas' anticipation + Bonners elite cutting leading to points again
— #Stephen PridGeon-Garner 🏁 (#@StephenPG3)
3:24 AM • Sep 3, 2025
Trajectory of Arizona in the Big 12:
