• Slug: Sports–ASU CFP Peach Bowl, 560 words.
• Photo available.

By Fletcher Anderson
Cronkite News

ARLINGTON, Texas – Arizona State, long known as college football’s “sleeping giant,” changed its identity in 2024.

The giant woke up.

The Sun Devils continued their tear through the back half of their schedule and dominated Iowa State 45-19 Saturday to secure the Big 12 Conference title. The College Football Playoff selection committee rewarded them Sunday with a No. 4 seed, which translates to an opening-round bye and a spot in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.

Continue reading “4 real: ASU football secures coveted CFP bye, earns quarterfinal spot in Peach Bowl”

• Slug: Sports–ASU Underdog Mentality, 700 words.
• Photo available.

By Patrick Holleron
Cronkite News

ARLINGTON, Texas – Imagining Arizona State as the No. 4 seed in the College Football Playoff seemed unfathomable this time last year.

As the Pac-12 Conference dissolved, ASU coach Kenny Dillingham searched for answers to a 3-9 debut season that felt like it ended before Week One thanks to the university’s self-imposed bowl ban amid an NCAA investigation for recruiting violations

Making matters worse, the Sun Devils prepared for a transition to the Big 12 Conference while starting over at multiple positions on the field and within Dillingham’s coaching staff. So like any college football coach entering the 2024 season, Dillingham dove deep into the transfer portal. Continue reading “Buying in: How an ASU team picked to finish last in Big 12 put its confidence in Kenny Dillingham”

• Slug: Sports–ASU Big 12 Championship, About 1,000 words.
• Photo available.

By Tucker L. Sennett
Cronkite News

ARLINGTON, Texas – In late November, a highlight reel of Arizona State running back Cam Skattebo running over defenders as an 8-year-old emerged on X. His mother’s response?

“He use to put on his brother’s shoulder pads and run into telephone poles at the football field while the older kids were playing,” Becky Skattebo wrote about the post.

On Saturday in the Big 12 Conference championship, Skattebo wasn’t running into telephone poles anymore. He was running through Iowa State Cyclone defenders like a warm knife slicing through a stick of Kerrygold butter. Continue reading “They are the champions, my friend: ASU football wins Big 12 title, awaits CFP fate”

• Slug: Sports–Pure Pickleball Scottsdale, 1,700 words.
• 3 photos available.

By Kendall Flynn
Cronkite News

SCOTTSDALE – If pickleball wasn’t growing fast enough in the Valley, the sport is about to hit a new level – by over 180,000 square feet.

PURE Pickleball & Padel, which will begin construction in Scottsdale in 2025, is expected to be a game-changer. With 50 state-of-the-art courts and top-line amenities, the facility is poised to become a hub for pickleball enthusiasts across Arizona and beyond.

The massive investment aims to take advantage of the sport’s growth across the nation, with nearly 19% of U.S. adults – over 800,000 people – playing the sport last year. According to the Association of Pickleball Players, the majority of players (70%) are between the ages of 18 and 44. Continue reading “PURE Pickleball & Padel set to change the game in Scottsdale by 2026 with 50-court complex”

• Slug: Sports–Hurling Club Phoenix, 860 words.
• 2 photos available.

By Patrick Holleron
Cronkite News

MESA – Before attending weekly practices on Sunday afternoons, not many new members of the Hurling Club of Phoenix knew what to expect when they had signed up to join the group.

They were informed to meet at the East Valley Academy in Mesa to practice at the school’s soccer field. Little did they know that they would practice making difficult shots at the goals with paddles.

The club has practiced at the school for the past four years and grew in that time thanks largely to Connor Jones, the team captain who started the squad after moving from Madison, Wisconsin, to Arizona for a job opportunity in 2020. Continue reading “Hurling Club of Phoenix establishes roots in Arizona with lofty goals to expand reach across Valley, U.S.”

• Slug: Sports–ASU CFP Poll, 850 words.
• Photo available.

By Fletcher Anderson
Cronkite News

PHOENIX — Win and in.

Despite the bickering about the College Football Playoff rankings from Eugene, Oregon, to Miami and everywhere in between, Arizona State controls its destiny Saturday. A win in Arlington, Texas, against the Iowa State Cyclones will send the Sun Devils to the College Football Playoff with the Big 12 championship and an automatic bid in hand.

The winner of Saturday’s title game will await its final ranking, but Tuesday’s latest rankings shed some light on what the future may hold. The Big 12 champion is currently projected as the 12th and final seed and would match up with Penn State in Happy Valley.

Continue reading “Arizona State improves to No. 15 in latest College Football Playoff rankings with automatic bid on line in Big 12 championship”

• Slug: Sports–ASU Iowa State, 850 words.
• 3 photos available.

By Saleh Awwad
Cronkite News

TEMPE – Picked to finish last in the conference by Big 12 football media before the season, No. 12 Arizona State continues to defy all odds.

Following their dominant 49-7 Territorial Cup victory this past weekend, the Sun Devils (10-2, 7-2) are in position to earn an automatic bid to the College Football Playoff with a win Saturday against No. 16 Iowa State in the Big 12 championship game in Arlington, Texas.

Arizona State continues to lean on star running back Cam Skattebo. The senior added to his already breakout season against Arizona, rushing for 177 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. Skattebo is now up to 1,866 total rushing yards and 19 touchdowns in just 11 games this season. Continue reading “ASU, Iowa State set for Big 12 championship showdown of contrasting strengths”

• Slug: Sports–ASU Big 12, 780 words.
• 3 photos available.

By Thomas Forbes
Cronkite News

TUCSON – After a disappointing Territorial Cup result in Kenny Dillingham’s first season at the helm, Arizona State found redemption in dominant fashion Saturday in Tucson.

Posting their first 10-win season since 2014, the Sun Devils secured a trip to the Big 12 Championship game against Iowa State at AT&T Stadium in Dallas with a 49-7 win over the Arizona Wildcats, but the victory came with a significant loss.

Dillingham shared Monday that wide receiver Jordyn Tyson is “out indefinitely” after he exited in the second half due to injury. Tyson, a key player for the Sun Devils offense this season with 75 catches for 1,101 yards, finished the game against Arizona with eight receptions for 143 yards and a touchdown.   Continue reading “Despite loss of receiver Jordyn Tyson, ASU still energized as it prepares for Big 12 championship in Dallas”

• Slug: Sports–Hockey Returns Prescott Valley, 1,100 words.
• 3 photos available.

By Chase Beardsley
Cronkite News

PRESCOTT VALLEY – In 2014, the sports scene in the Valley was on fire. The Phoenix Suns recorded one of the best winning percentages of a team that missed the playoffs, the Arizona Cardinals went 11-5 and the Phoenix Coyotes officially changed its name to the Arizona Coyotes.

However, up north in Prescott Valley, a different kind of sports scene was making waves. The Arizona Sundogs, a minor league professional hockey team, slipped into the Central Hockey League playoffs as the eighth seed with a 32-27-7 record.

The Sundogs upset the top-seeded Missouri Mavericks in the first round, winning in six games. Despite losing in the second round to the Denver Cutthroats, it seemed like the Sundogs were on the precipice of having a breakout season in 2015 and could challenge for the franchise’s second Ray Miron President’s Cup, their first since 2008. Continue reading “Grand Canyon College Hockey Classic brings sport back to puck-craving fans in Prescott Valley”

• Slug: Sports–Brophy Prep Football, 800 words.
• 3 photos available.

By Saleh Awward
Cronkite News

PHOENIX – After securing its 500th victory in team history, Brophy Prep is all in to bring home a football state title.

The sixth-ranked Broncos (10-2), who last won an Arizona high school championship in 2007, toppled Perry High last Friday and have their eyes set on the 6A trophy, but a heavyweight semifinal matchup this Friday against No. 3 Mountain View Toros (11-1) stands in the way of ending the title drought.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve even been in the state championship game. We were one play away last year, now we’re one game away,” Brophy coach Jason Jewell said after his team beat Perry, 31-13. “(It’s) gonna take a tough week of preparation. It takes luck, it takes some grit. I think our kids got it though.” Continue reading “Brophy Prep football eyes state title, but first must top Mountain View in 6A semifinals”

• Slug: Sports–Arizona State CFP, 740 words.
• Photo available.

By Fletcher Anderson
Cronkite News

PHOENIX— So nice, they did it twice.

Not only is that true of the Arizona State faithful’s field storming on Saturday, but it can also be said about the team’s past two weeks, as the Sun Devils beat consecutive ranked opponents and moved to 9-2 on the season, 6-2 in the conference, and most importantly, first place in the Big 12 with just one week to play in the regular season.

That resume was good enough to land the Sun Devils at No. 16 in the College Football Playoff rankings. However, they still sit five spots behind No. 11 Boise State (10-1), with a host of three-loss SEC teams in between them. Based on that, it feels like a far cry for the prospective Big 12 champion to leapfrog that high to grab the final first-round bye without a loss from the Broncos. Continue reading “Arizona State rises to No. 16 after back-to-back upsets as College Football Playoff hopes hang in balance”

• Slug: Sports–Arizona Wildcats Football, 650 words.
• Photo available.

By Caleb Campero
Cronkite News

LOS ANGELES – With just days left in the regular season, the Arizona Wildcats have accepted a difficult truth: Postseason football is not in their immediate future. That said, no matter what transpired during the season, one game on the calendar is always marked, and beating Arizona State Saturday could dramatically shift the Wildcats’ mood.

“Huge week for us,” Arizona coach Brent Brennan said. “Obviously the ASU game is such a special rivalry in college football and it means so much to everybody here, everybody at this university, everybody in Tucson and thousands in the state of Arizona.”

Arizona sits at 4-7 heading into the Territorial Cup matchup in Tucson and is in 13th place out of 16 teams in the Big 12. ASU, meanwhile, was initially picked to finish last in the conference but is first at 9-2. The Sun Devils are likely one win away from a Big 12 title game appearance in their inaugural season with the conference. Continue reading “Spoiler alert: Arizona sees Territorial Cup meeting with ASU as a potential culture builder”