👋 GOOD MORNING - Happy Wednesday! We’re halfway home, and I hope you’re having a great week!

Now, about last night … WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED?! First, the Mercury staged an incredible rally to even their WNBA Semifinals series with Minnesota, and just a few hours later the D-backs walked it off against the Dodgers to keep pace in the NL Wild Card race.

This is pure craziness, and holy cow is it fun to watch. More on both games below!

On Deck: Tomorrow’s PHNX Sports Daily will bring you everything for the night’s Cardinals/Seahawks matchup, including the very best from our PHNX Cardinals crew. Don’t miss it!

— Patrick Brown, PHNX Sports Daily Editor

OK, we learned a few things last week.

Texas Tech is for real. Arizona State is so back. And Oklahoma State? Well … they’re as bad as I’ve seen them in a long time, and coach Mike Gundy paid the price with his job after he was let go by the school yesterday.

That said, the beauty of the Big 12 is that it remains anyone’s conference, even if the picture at the top is starting to become a little more clear.

Let’s get right to it — here’s how Week 5 stacks up across the conference:

Friday, Sept. 26:

Saturday, Sept. 27:

1 - No. 12 Texas Tech (4-0, 1-0 Big 12): Hurts me to have the Red Raiders leapfrog my alma mater, but their convincing road win over Utah, combined with more points for and fewer points against this season, makes Tech the team to beat right now.
Last Week’s Result: W, 34-10 at No. 16 Utah
Last Week’s Ranking: 3

2 - No. 14 Iowa State (4-0, 1-0 Big 12): The Cyclones did nothing wrong other than the fact that they didn’t play last week. They still have two wins over Power 5 opponents under their belt and have looked like a tough out to this point.
Last Week’s Result: Idle
Last Week’s Ranking: 1

3 - No. 24 TCU (3-0): The Horned Frogs snagged a good non-conference win over SMU, and will now play their first road game since visiting Chapel Hill for Bill Belichick’s debut on Sept. 1.
Last Week’s Result: W, 35-24 vs. SMU
Last Week’s Ranking: 8

4 - Arizona State (3-1, 1-0 Big 12): Just flat-out an impressive road win in Waco, and it doesn’t get any easier with No. 24 TCU visiting Tempe on Friday. That stadium is going to be rocking, and presents a huge opportunity for the Sun Devils to make an early statement to the rest of the conference.
Last Week’s Result: W, 27-24 at Baylor
Last Week’s Ranking: 5

5 — No. 25 BYU (3-0): The Cougars rolled East Carolina on the road, and now visit Colorado this weekend. BYU has only allowed 16 points over three games this season, and the Buffaloes aren’t likely to pose much of a threat. That said, it’ll be interesting to see what happens once some real competition begins.
Last Week’s Result: W, 34-13 at East Carolina
Last Week’s Ranking: 7

6 — Utah (3-1, 0-1 Big 12): The wheels fell off in the fourth quarter against Texas Tech, but it was a competitive game up until then, so the score was somewhat deceiving. Tough to ding them too much on a loss to a top-20 team, and we’ll see how the Utes bounce back against West Virginia this week.
Last Week’s Result: L, 34-10 vs. Texas Tech
Last Week’s Ranking: 2

7 — Arizona (3-0): U of A’s drop is a result of their idle week, but look out — a win at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames will dramatically change people’s expectations in a hurry. The Wildcats have a chance to start 4-0 for the first time since 2014, when they were 5-0 and knocked off No. 2 Oregon in Eugene.
Last Week’s Result: Idle
Last Week’s Ranking: 5

8 — Houston (3-0, 1-0 Big 12): The Cougars are back in action this week, facing 0-4 Oregon State in what should essentially add up to a gimme. They better not get caught looking ahead to next week, though, as the Red Raiders’ arrival to TDECU Stadium looms large.
Last Week’s Result: Idle
Last Week’s Ranking: 8

9 — Baylor (2-2, 0-1 Big 12): The Bears have had a tough schedule to start the season, as both of their losses have come against quality opponents in Auburn and Arizona State. Even so, they’ve dug themselves a hole, though a trip to Stillwater this weekend is likely going to be just what the doctor ordered for Baylor.
Last Week’s Result: L, 27-24 vs. Arizona State
Last Week’s Ranking: 7

Best of the Rest:

10 — UCF (3-0)
Last Week’s Result: W, 34-9 vs. North Carolina
Last Week’s Ranking: 10

11 — Kansas (3-1, 1-0 Big 12)
Last Week’s Result: W, 41-20 vs. West Virginia
Last Week’s Ranking: 12

12 — Cincinnati (2-1)
Last Week’s Result: Idle
Last Week’s Ranking: 13

13 — Colorado (2-2, 0-1 Big 12)
Last Week’s Result: W, 37-20 vs. Wyoming
Last Week’s Ranking: 14

14 — Kansas State (1-3, 0-1 Big 12)
Last Week’s Result: Idle
Last Week’s Ranking: 15

15 — West Virginia (2-2 0-1 Big 12)
Last Week’s Result: L, 41-10 at Kansas
Last Week’s Ranking: 11

16 — Oklahoma State (1-2)
Last Week’s Result: L, 19-12 vs. Tulsa
Last Week’s Ranking: 16

Agree? Disagree? Email me at [email protected] OR by simply responding to this email and sound off!

Dodged a Bullet: The D-backs rallied from a 4-0 deficit to walk it off against the Dodgers last night, stunning L.A. while keeping pace in the Wild Card race. Arizona is one game behind the Mets for the final spot, tied with the Reds, and 2.5 games ahead of the Cardinals.

Geraldo Perdomo hit a two-out game-winning single, his first-ever walk-off hit, in one of the most exciting games of the season. There’s still two more games to go in this series, and a win tonight (6:40 pm) could pull them even in the playoff race, provided a few other chips fall in their favor.

Catch the Postgame Show: POOL. DEFENDED. Re-live last night’s thrilling win with Derek and Damon!

Missing Lynx: The Mercury pulled a stunning rally to even their WNBA Semifinals series against the Lynx in Minnesota last night. Phoenix outscored Minny 47-27 in the second half, and 10-4 in overtime, to even things at one game apiece in the best-of-five series. Alyssa Thomas wowed yet again with 19 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds, Satou Sabally added 24 points and nine rebounds, and Sami Whitcomb chipped in 13 off the bench.

The series now transitions to PHX Arena for Games 3 and 4 before returning to Minnesota for Game 5, if necessary.

Catch the Postgame Show: How the Mercury rallied from 20 down to even the series.

What a scene at Chase Field.

Amazing comebacks by the Mercury and D-backs yesterday!!