👋 GOOD MORNING - Happy Wednesday! We’re halfway through the week, and I hope yours is going well!

I have just one gripe this morning — the NBA All-Rookie team was announced yesterday, and the Suns’ Ryan Dunn did not make the cut on either the first or second teams. He did receive seven votes for the second team, but with just nine points overall, he fell well short of the total points needed.

He was certainly a victim of the Suns’ underachieving season, but I wish he had seen a little more support after averaging 6.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in his first professional season. You’ll always be an All-Rookie to us, Ryan!

On to the show!

— Patrick Brown, PHNX Sports Daily Editor

Big 12 Tourney Kicks Off As Sun Devils, Wildcats Look For Conference Glory

It’s conference tourney time, and both Arizona State and Arizona have their eyes on the Big 12’s ultimate prize.

The fifth-seeded ASU baseball team kicks off its tournament today at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, facing the 12th-seeded BYU Cougars with a chance to move on to the quarterfinals on Thursday. If you’re reading this shortly after it arrived in your inbox, you can still catch the game, which starts at 7 am on ESPN+.

As luck would have it, the fourth-seeded Wildcats earned a first round bye, and await the winner of that very game.

Nothing like a potential rivalry game with a spot in the semifinals up for grabs!

Sun Devils, Wildcats Posted Similar Records

A quick breakdown of both teams reveals some similarities, though the two teams finished the season very differently.

• Both ASU and UA finished 18-12 in their inaugural Big 12 season. The Sun Devils did not have any neutral site games this season, while the Wildcats were 2-4.

• Arizona was 36-18 overall, while Arizona State was 35-21.

• The Sun Devils have dropped their last three games, while the Wildcats have won two straight leading up to the tourney.

From a matchup perspective, the Sun Devils have a clear advantage over BYU, which snuck into the final tourney spot by finishing ahead of both UCF (29-26, 9-21 Big 12) and Utah (21-29, 8-22).

• BYU finished the season 27-26, and 10-20 in the Big 12. The Cougars dropped their final game of the season 7-4 to Texas Tech.

• The Sun Devils swept a three-game series against BYU in late April, outscoring the Cougars 36-13 in the process.

ASU needs to be careful — the tournament is single-elimination, so there’s no wiggle room for even one bad game.

As for the Wildcats, they’ll likely feel confident heading into Thursday regardless of their opponent. Arizona won the 2024 Pac-12 championship, and defeated the Sun Devils in three of four matchups this season. UA also took two of three from BYU.

There should be a little added motivation for the Wildcats, who were eliminated from last season’s regional after just two games — despite being the top seed and regional host.

My Take: The good news here is that both teams are projected to make the NCAA Tournament field of 64, and it would honestly be stunning to see either school miss out after finishing within the top five of the Big 12. If either can run the table at the Tourney, though, it would put an exclamation point on a season in which both teams immediately made their mark in a brand new conference.

Bonus: The conference championship will be hosted in Surprise, Ariz. beginning next season, offering a home field advantage of sorts for both teams. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves — sit back and enjoy this year’s action, first!

Musings From Around (and Sometimes Beyond) The Valley

Wild Ride: Last night’s D-backs/Dodgers game was an instant classic. Arizona rallied for one run in the top of the ninth to tie the game at one, and Corbin Carroll’s 10th-inning blast gave the Answer-backs a 3-1 lead heading into the 10th. The wheels fell off there, though, as the Dodgers walked it off with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to win the game 4-3.

That sets up a rubber match today at 7:10 pm, which also marks the last of 13 straight games against NL West opponents.

Check out our PHNX Diamondbacks postgame show, where Derek breaks it all down with an old friend!

By George, No Deal: Earlier this week our PHNX Suns crew floated the idea of a Durant-for-Paul-George trade, and it was intriguing! However, DLLS writer and NBA insider Marc Stein squashed that idea on yesterday’s PHNX Suns pod.

It’s a Little Drafty: Make sure to check out the NBA Diehard Draft Guide — Led by ALLCITY draft analysts Derek Bodner of PHLY and Will Gottlieb of CHGO, this guide is your one-stop-shop as teams across the league gear up to reshape their rosters

Note the Diehard draft guide is best viewed on desktop or tablet!

King Me: Infielder Matt King was named the Big 12’s Co-Newcomer of the Year after posting the second-best batting average in the Big 12 (.401), which includes a .424 mark in league play. He was also the only player to break the 50-hit mark in league play, notching 53 over 30 games. He was also named to the All-Big 12 First Team alongside teammates Isaiah Jackson, Landon Hairston, and Cole Carlon.

Kyle Walker and Ben Jacobs both earned Second Team honors, while Hairston was also named to the All-Freshman team. Congrats to all!

Tony Award: RHP Tony Pluta also earned conference accolades, as he was named the Big 12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year after leading the conference with 11 saves while maintaining a 3.92 GPA. The aerospace engineering major (HOLY COW!) appeared in 23 games this season.

Pluta and infielder Mason White were also named to the All-Big 12 Second Team, while Smith Bailey received All-Freshman Team honors. Congratulations!

No Sparks: The Mercury (1-0) play their second regular season game tonight, hosting the L.A. Sparks (1-1) at 7 pm AZ Time. The game will be broadcast live on Arizona’s Family Sports, and closes out the team’s season-opening home stand before it heads to Seattle for a Friday night matchup.

Who You Got?: Which Cardinals rookie do you think will have a bigger impact this season? Our PHNX Cardinals crew debates whether Walter Nolen or Will Johnson will make a bigger mark.

🧢 Tip of the Hat by Branded Bills

Preach, Espo.

How I’m Feeling, In GIF Form

Actual footage of me when the Big 12 Tourney kicks off at 7 am today: