👋 GOOD MORNING

Happy Wednesday! We’re halfway through the week, and I hope it’s been a good one. The Suns are somehow still in the postseason play-in hunt, while the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments are kicking theirs off. On the men’s side, Alabama State topped St. Francis in a battle of 16-seeds, while North Carolina dominated San Diego State in a meeting of 11-seeds. Today’s slate features Mount St. Mary’s vs. American University (3:40 pm, truTV) and Xavier vs. Texas (6:10 pm, truTV).

The women’s play-in games kicking off today feature 11-seeds Princeton against Iowa State (4 pm, ESPNU) and 16-seeds Southern vs. UC San Diego (6 pm, ESPNU).

Speaking of the Tourney, if you’re a Diehard, hop into our Discord diehard-chat channel and play against all of us in our bracket pool! If you haven’t joined our Diehard community yet, we’d love to have you. You can learn more about all of the perks and sign up ​right here​.

On to the show!

How Likely is a Suns Playoff Berth?

Honestly? Not likely.

Phoenix still has ​the most difficult remaining schedule​ of any NBA team, and there are only 13 games left in the regular season. The Suns offered a glimmer of hope after Monday’s 129-89 trouncing of the Raptors, and though they have a winnable game tonight against the 29-39 Bulls, they’ll face a murderer’s row after that: 56-11 Cleveland, 38-29 Milwaukee (twice), 49-19 Boston (twice), 40-30 Minnesota, 44-25 Houston, 43-25 Knicks, 39-29 Golden State and 56-12 Oklahoma City.

Oof.

Suns Chasing Mavs For Final Play-In Spot

Suns Chasing Mavs For Final Play-In Spot: Phoenix is just one game behind Dallas for the final postseason play-in spot, and both teams have 13 games left. The Mavs have the 14th-hardest schedule remaining, and while it’s far more forgiving than the Suns’, Dallas has not exactly been coasting lately. It has dropped three straight and is just 2-8 over its last 10 games, offering an opportunity — albeit very slight — for the Suns to keep pace and maybe even sneak in.

• Bradley Beal, Grayson Allen, Mason Plumlee and Jalen Bridges will all miss tonight’s game against Chicago.
• Phoenix, coming off its win against Toronto, has not won back-to-back games since winning three in a row from Jan. 22 – Jan. 27.
• The Suns are in real danger of missing the postseason for the first time since the 2019-20 season.

My take: I’m ever the eternal optimist, but it’s hard to stay positive with this one. Given how wildly inconsistent Phoenix has been since starting 9-2 this season, everything really needs to go its way for the remainder of the season to even keep hope alive. Injuries, coupled with the Suns’ difficult remaining schedule, are going to hinder that hope even further. Look, I’m not saying it’s impossible, because stranger things have happened. But at this point it’s going to take one heck of a run, and a little luck, as well.

Take a deeper dive: Is Mike Budenholzer going to be ​a one-and-done coach​, just like his predecessor?

Musings From Around (and Sometimes Beyond) The Valley

Dive Right In: 12 ASU and five UA swimmers are set to compete at the NCAA Women’s Swim and Dive Championships in Washington, beginning today with the 200 Medley Relay and 800 Free Relay. You can catch them on ESPN+ beginning with tonight’s races at 6 pm MST.

D-Backs Dining: In what has become one of my personal favorite traditions, the Diamondbacks released their food menu for the 2025 season, and it does not look like it will disappoint! New items include s’mores nachos, a carne asada nachos helmet, and a giant loaded BBQ chicken potato, among others. I’m so in, though I bet the “value dog” will be much more appealing to my wallet!

Miranda Rights: Arizona softball player Miranda Stoddard was named the Big 12 Player of the Week for the second time this season after leading UA to its first-ever Big 12 series win last weekend. The Wildcats swept Utah, while Stoddard hit .714 with two home runs and five RBI.

🧢 Tip of the Hat

The Suns have played spectacular defense as of late.