👋 GOOD MORNING

Happy Friday! Made it through another week! It’s one of the greatest times of the year: Big 12 Tournament time! The women’s teams have already wrapped up their slates — more on that below — but the men’s teams still have a regular season finale to check off before setting their sights on Kansas City.

I hope you had a great week — here’s a little joke in case you need a laugh to get you through to the weekend: Did you read the book Henry Ford wrote about starting a car company? It’s an autobiography!

Let’s run it back next week. On to the show!

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A Look at the Big 12 Basketball Tournament in Kansas City

March Madness is just about here, and it kicks off with conference tourney season.

Oh, what fun we are about to have.

The ASU and Arizona women’s basketball teams have already kicked off the Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City — the Sun Devils upset Cincinnati on Wednesday before ultimately falling to Iowa State yesterday, while the Wildcats lost a heartbreaker to Colorado after getting outscored 21-10 in the fourth quarter yesterday. Both men’s teams are set to kick off their respective postseason journeys next week, and the end result will have finite implications in NCAA Tournament hopes.

NCAA Tournament Outlook For Each Team

In the scheme of things, the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament means a lot more to Arizona State than it does to Arizona. That’s not to underscore how much the players want to win, rather, it’s out of necessity considering the Sun Devils have zero chance to qualify for the NCAA Tournament without the automatic bid that comes along with winning it all. Here’s how the postseason is shaping up for both schools:

ASU Women’s Basketball Team

• Regular season record: 10-22, 3-15 Big 12
• Big 12 Tournament matchup/result: March 5: 82-75 win over Cincy, March 6: 96-88 loss to Iowa State
• Postseason Outlook: Unfortunately the Sun Devils’ season is over, as they will not receive a bid to either the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT following a 10-22 overall finish.

Arizona Women’s Basketball Team

• Regular season record: 19-13, 10-8 Big 12
• Big 12 Tournament matchup/result: 61-58 loss to Colorado
• Postseason Outlook: It’s going to be close, but given Thursday’s loss to Colorado, it’s unlikely the Wildcats receive an invitation to the Big Dance. As of Thursday night ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Arizona as one of the first four out, so it’s likely WNIT or bust for the Wildcats.

ASU Men’s Basketball Team

• Regular season record: 13-17, 4-15 Big 12
• Remaining game: Home vs. No. 9 Texas Tech on Saturday
• Postseason Outlook: The Sun Devils need to run the table in the Big 12 Tournament in order to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, and an NIT bid is also not going to happen. ASU heads into the tournament as the 15 seed (out of 16), and will have a gauntlet of competition in order to keep their season alive. They’ll face off against the 10 seed (TCU, Kansas State or West Virginia are all vying for it) on Tuesday at 4 pm MST.

Arizona Men’s Basketball Team

• Regular season record: 20-10, 14-5 Big 12
• Remaining game: at Kansas on Saturday
• Postseason Outlook: The Wildcats are in a solid position heading into the Big 12 Tournament, as they have solidified a top-4 spot to earn a bye in both the first and second rounds. They’ll kick off in the quarterfinals on Thursday, a huge advantage matching up against a team that has potentially played two games already. Arizona is a lock for the Big Dance, currently projected as a four seed by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.

My take: I wish we were talking about more teams having a path to the NCAA Tournament, to be honest. The Arizona men’s basketball team has been truly impressive in its first season as a Big 12 member, but beyond that, there’s much left to be desired. The Wildcats can strengthen their positioning depending on how they perform in Kansas City, and hey, don’t give up on those Sun Devils quite yet! It is March, after all, so you never know what could happen.

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Musings From Around (and Sometimes Beyond) The Valley

Hurry Up and Wait: The ASU men’s hockey team has a bye this weekend while the rest of the NCHC wraps up its schedule. The Sun Devils are guaranteed to host a quarterfinal series next weekend at Mullett Arena — all that remains is who their opponent will be. The team is very much on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, and will need to perform well throughout the tournament to have a shot to make it in. They’ll face either Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State or Colorado College.

Critical Games Continue: Staying with hockey, the Tucson Roadrunners open up what may be their biggest series of the season at Bakersfield, which is chasing Tucson for the seventh-and-final playoff position in the Pacific Division. The Roadrunners are in the midst of a 16-game stretch against division opponents, and it will likely decide their postseason fate when it’s all said and done.

Suns Aim to Keep Momentum: The Suns rallied for a huge win over the Clippers on Tuesday, and travel to Denver and Dallas this weekend to try to continue the momentum. Phoenix remains 2.5 games behind Dallas for the final play-in spot, so Sunday’s game against the Mavs takes on even more significance.

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🧢 Tip of the Hat

Spring football is right around the corner! Hear what the Sun Devils assistant coaches had to say heading into Spring ball.

With less than 20 days till Spring football the Arizona State assistant coaches spoke to the media.

🔱 Marcus Arroyo
🔱 Shaun Aguano
🔱 Bryan Carrington

Check out what the coaches had to say! pic.twitter.com/Gnz4XvwMuj

— PHNX Sun Devils (@PHNX_SunDevils) March 7, 2025