👋 GOOD MORNING

Happy Monday! I hope you had an amazing weekend, and I’m looking forward to attacking this week along with you! Before we jump to hockey, I just wanted to extend a huge thanks to Leah for stepping up and writing Friday’s newsletter — I really appreciate the assist.

I also want to give a huge shoutout to both the ASU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, which each won a Big 12 title over the weekend. The Sun Devils continue to be a force across the board as new conference members — having won conference championships in football and volleyball as well — and it has been truly enjoyable to watch.

Let’s make it a good week. On to the show!

Sun Devils Clinch Home Ice for NCHC Quarterfinals

As it turns out, the ASU men’s hockey team has not played its last home game of the season.

The Sun Devils will return to Mullett Arena for the NCHC Quarterfinals, having clinched one of the top four spots in the conference after defeating Omaha 4-1 on Friday. Their opponent remains to be seen, as the rest of the league still has one weekend left to play, but as luck would have it, Arizona State has completed its slate of 24 NCHC games and gets a weekend to rest and heal up before kicking off a critical stretch run.

Hard Work Remains TO Qualify For NCAA Tournament

Now for (a little) bad news: The Sun Devils’ hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament took a big hit with a 4-2 loss to Omaha on Saturday night. That result stung even more considering ASU could have rocketed up the Pairwise standings had it emerged victorious, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Saturday’s defeat kept the Sun Devils at No. 16, behind UMass Lowell, Penn State and Quinnipiac.

All is not lost, however. One luxury Arizona State has this year is the NCHC’s automatic bid, which is awarded to the tournament champion. It is not outlandish to believe the Sun Devils can make a run, given its track record of success against the top teams in one of the nation’s best conferences.

• Arizona State split its series against conference-leading Western Michigan, which ranks fifth in the Pairwise standings.
• The Sun Devils beat defending national champion Denver three of four times. The Pioneers are ninth in Pairwise standings.
• ASU’s record against the NCHC bottom-dwellers: 2-0 against St. Cloud State, 2-1-1 against Minnesota Duluth, 1-2-1 against Colorado College and 1-1 against North Dakota. (Miami (OH) will not qualify for the NCHC Tourney as the ninth-place team.)
• The best-of-three quarterfinal series at Mullett Arena will be the weekend of March 14-16.

My take: It has been a good season for the Sun Devils, but it’s hard not to play a game of “what ifs” internally. What if ASU had not dropped a stunner to Air Force in its second game of the season? What if it had defeated Omaha on Saturday? What if it had held on against Western Michigan two weeks ago and swept the first-place Broncos? Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Coach Greg Powers continues to lead the Sun Devils to incredible heights, and there’s still plenty of runway for a wildly talented roster to make a memorable run.

Yes, the Suns are an Absolute Mess

I still just cannot wrap my head around how much the Suns are struggling this season, and they lost yet again last night, marking their eighth loss in their last 10 games.

• They have been in a free fall since starting 9-2, currently sitting at 28-33.
• They’re four games out of a spot for the play-in tournament.
• Rumors are rampant of a fractured relationship between coach Mike Budenholzer and star Devin Booker.
• Essentially benched center Jusuf Nurkić before trading him in a deal that was marginal, at best.

Read More: Gerald writes that ​Budenholzer and the Suns​ are completely lost.

Musings From Around (and Sometimes Beyond) The Valley

Caught in a Cyclone: The Arizona men’s basketball team fell at No. 9 Iowa State 84-67 on Saturday in a top-25 battle. The Wildcats are now 19-10, 13-5 in the Big 12, and are currently a four seed in Joe Lunardi’s ESPN Bracketology. They host the Sun Devils in Tucson on Tuesday.

Devils Fall Late: The ASU men’s basketball team fell 99-73 at Utah on Satuday, as a two-point halftime lead evaporated into a route. Arizona State has lost eight of its last nine games, and its only hope to go dancing in March rests with a magical run in the Big 12 Tournament.

Iced Out: The Roadrunners split their weekend series against the Rockford IceHogs, winning 5-1 on Friday before falling 3-2 on Saturday. Tucson remains in the seventh-and-final playoff spot, two points ahead of Bakersfield, but the Condors have two games in hand. As luck would have it, the Roadrunners have two games in Bakersfield this weekend.

🧢 Tip of the Hat

Enough with the Devin Booker trade rumors already. ENOUGH!