Here’s an exercise for you: Next time during a Phoenix Suns game, take a peek at the box score on your favorite basketball app.

First, look at the shooting percentage for each team. Then compare how well the shooting accuracy reflects the product on the court — and the score. Quite often, it doesn’t.

That trend has continued to astonish me since a Dec. 21 meeting with the Pistons, who allowed the Suns to bomb for a 58% shooting mark by the game’s end yet ended with a 133-125 victory.

The Pistons shot 55% in that one, and you could blame the Suns’ defense a bit.

Let’s look at the last five games against pretty light competition for more of this trend, though. Phoenix has consistently outshot its opponents — credit to the offense and even the defense lately.

– 51-44% Suns advantage in a five-point loss to the Hawks Tuesday
– 48-45% Sunday in a seven-point win against the Hornets
– 51-44% Saturday in an eight-point win against the Jazz
– 58-49% in an eight-point win over the Hawks Thursday
– 42-39% in an 11-point loss to the miserable Hornets last Wednesday

What’s the point I’m trying to make? Phoenix’s offensive execution has been good enough and its defense has held up.

The Suns continue to score the hard way, and even if you have players who are wildly efficient doing it the hard way, that doesn’t make it easier. Convince me Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal wouldn’t have a little more energy to defend and rebound if they’re bombing spot-ups and transition threes instead of isolating in the mid-range.

The Suns are losing on the margins in a lot of respects.

Widen the view season-wide and across all the miscellaneous ways to score, and the Suns find themselves struggling to make up ground even when their offense is clicking.

Per game in 2024-25, the Suns are 18th in points scored off turnovers, third-to-last in second-chance points, 20th in fastbreak points and second-worst in points in the paint.

Sounds like a roster expensively constructed around high-level scorers with holes and a lack of identity otherwise.

So about the Phoenix Suns’ recent rebounding issues

In the past 10 games, the Suns’ rebounding has been miserable, partially because they play small and for three different reasons (suspension, illness and coaches decisions) haven’t had their best rebounder, Jusuf Nurkic, in the mix much, if at all.

Phoenix is last in the NBA by giving up 17.3 second-chance points per game in the past 10.

“We’re just ball-watching, watching guys jump over us, watching guys run past us, get the ball, get the rebound, first to the ball on the floor. Especially the long ones, as guards, we got to get in there,” Beal told reporters after the Hawks game.

Head coach Mike Budenholzer and Durant also mentioned that size isn’t a great excuse. Against a team like the Hawks with a couple of deep gunners, many of the rebounds were long ones.

As Phoenix gave up 27 second-chance points off 20 offensive boards Tuesday night, at one point television play-by-play voice Kevin Ray pointed out a long rebound during the broadcast that reached the playing surface before it was gobbled up by a Hawk.

Backup big Onyeka Okongwu scored 22 to go with 21 rebounds, joining Goga Bitadze, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Nick Richards and Mark Williams as non-All-Star centers to go ballistic on Phoenix.

“It starts with just everybody who’s out there has to participate,” Budenholzer told reporters after the loss to Atlanta. “Are there other guys or other things that maybe we can do to help our rebounding? We got to look at that and see where we get better. But everybody who’s out there has to make a commitment to go get it. That’s where it starts.”

I’ll translate that for you: Neither Bol Bol nor Nick Richards will save the Suns’ season. The rebounding problem is one of many.

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Arizona men’s basketball continued its winning streak and undefeated Big 12 record by beating No. 25 Baylor 81-70 on Tuesday for the program’s seventh-straight win.

Henri Veesaar led the way with a career-high 19 points off the bench for Arizona and after a 3-4 start in nonconference play to begin the season, the Wildcats improved to 11-5 overall and 5-0 in the Big 12.

Entering Tuesday, Baylor was already a shorthanded team missing Langston Love (recurring ankle soreness) and Jalen Celestine (ankle) to injuries, but after Baylor big Norchad Omier picked up two early fouls just 1:06 into the game, the Bears did not have much of a shot with their best player in foul trouble for much of the evening.

Omier averages 15.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game but was held to nine points and four rebounds in 26 minutes.

After Omier checked out for the first time, Arizona went on a 7-0 run and never looked back.

Somewhat of a bold move, Baylor put Omier back in the game with two fouls at the 15:42 mark, but that was mainly because there was no other choice. Baylor played just six players more than six minutes.

Arizona is now 7-0 since Anthony Dell’Orso joined the team’s starting lineup versus Samford, and the Australian made his first three 3-point attempts on Tuesday, which helped set the tone for Arizona.

Baylor entered allowing opponents to shoot 36.3% from three, so this game was not necessarily the best assessment for a Wildcats team we have seen struggle to knock down 3-pointers at times this season (Arizona averaged just 6.8 3-pointers per game entering Tuesday), but Arizona made seven alone in the first half.

Tommy Lloyd’s group played like the more physical team as well and looked much better defensively, holding Baylor to a 7 of 27 (25.9%) mark in the first half and just 1 of 11 (9.09%) from three.

A 17-4 run from Arizona saw the Wildcats take a 42-19 lead into the break, its largest halftime lead all season, while 19 points at the half was a season-low for Baylor. Arizona made six of its final seven shots to end the first half while Baylor made just one of its final nine.

Baylor guard Jeremy Roach picked up his third personal foul with 46 seconds left in the first half, which quite literally added insult to injury for the Bears. Coming out of the half, Roach later picked up his fourth foul with 16:59 left leaving Baylor even more depleted.

But the second half was a much different story for the depleted Bears. The Wildcats went cold and were held without a 3-pointer in the second half as the Bears clawed their way back into the game.

The Bears made four straight and 5 of 6 field goals to start the second half to keep it competitive. Baylor looked the much more aggressive team in the second half and Arizona was sloppy as the Bears turned to a 1-3-1 zone defense that caused the Wildcats to look sluggish.

Once trailing by 27, Baylor hit seven shots in a row to go on a 17-4 run to pull to within 10 with three minutes remaining.

Arizona managed to make most of its free throws down the stretch and key blocks from Carter Bryant and Caleb Love in the final two minutes helped Arizona hang on for the win but once again the Wildcats were unable to put together a complete performance.

And Love continued to struggle offensively as well. The 2023-24 Pac-12 Player of the Year finished with eight points on 3 of 10 shooting.

The Wildcats return to action Saturday at noon MST at Texas Tech (12-4, 3-2).

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GLENDALE — The Los Angeles Rams traveled to a home game away from home as their city continues to fight destructive wildfires, and they dominated the Minnesota Vikings in their Wild Card round victory at State Farm Stadium on Monday, 27-9.

The game had a great turnout with 64,515 announced fans in Glendale, especially considering this game was to be played in Los Angeles as of Wednesday evening.

Fans piled into buses before the sun rose on Monday morning at SoFi Stadium to attend, and — sorry Cardinals fans — the Rams displayed a resilience and ferocity to reward them with a win. 

“There was definitely every excuse in the book to come out here and be lethargic and ‘woe is me’ and all that,” quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “But we weren’t playing just for us, we were playing for people back home that needed something to watch and enjoy. And I’m glad we could give that to them.”

State Farm Stadium packed the house for Monday Night Football despite the short notice. pic.twitter.com/9xpH6gtB4C

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) January 14, 2025

Los Angeles’ defense played a stellar game, sacking Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold six times in the first half alone and finishing with nine sacks, which tied the NFL playoff record. A strip sack from Ahkello Witherspoon was returned 57 yards for a touchdown by Jared Verse to give L.A. a 17-3 lead in the second quarter, a back-breaking turn of events for the Vikings.

“Like, a sack party I was not invited to,” Verse joked after eight different Rams players were credited with at least half of a sack.

Minnesota returned a fumble for a touchdown in the first quarter, but a review determined Stafford flipped the ball forward to an intended target. Instead of a 10-10 game, the Rams ran away with a 24-3 lead at halftime as their side of the split crowd bellowed “Whose house? Rams house!” in the home of the Cardinals. There were a few Cardinals jerseys sprinkled throughout the crowd, naturally.

The Rams’ offense led drives of 70 and 62 net yards to put up 10 points before the defensive score. Stafford found tight end Davis Allen for a touchdown 21 seconds before halftime after a Minnesota turnover on downs.

Minnesota held Los Angeles to three points in the second half, but its offense could not muster a comeback.

“I think you could just feel it, you could feel it in warm ups. There was just an aura,” head coach Sean McVay said. “Once we got to Arizona … once we got here, I think that offered just a chance to kind of exhale. Now, let’s lock in. Let’s all be in the same place. Let’s have two really good days of preparation, and then let’s peak at the right time. And our guys certainly did that.”

JARED VERSE SCOOP AND SCORE!

📺: #MINvsLAR on ESPN/ABC
📱: Stream on @NFLPlus and ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/bXLHmOUaQW

— NFL (@NFL) January 14, 2025

The Rams arrived in Arizona on Friday and used the Cardinals’ facilities to prepare.

Los Angeles will travel to Philadelphia in the Divisional Round and kick off on Sunday. The Rams started the year 1-4, including a 41-10 shellacking by the Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. They went 9-2 over the next 11 games to claim the NFC West.

The Vikings went 14-3 in the regular season, but a Week 18 loss to the Detroit Lions cost them the division crown, and they enter an offseason having to manage a quarterback controversy with Darnold and 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy.

Cardinals successfully host playoff game between Rams-Vikings

The NFL sets up contingency plans for games throughout the season, but rarely are they ever needed. With the ongoing wildfires devastating Los Angeles, the league moved Monday’s playoff game to Glendale. More than 40,000 acres have burned and 12,000 structures have been destroyed as of Monday evening with more strong winds coming, per Cal Fire.

The Cardinals played the role of a welcoming host, and despite the division rivalry, the cooperation between the Cardinals and Rams led to a successful event in Glendale. The building had great energy, and seeing friends reunite in the parking lot pregame given this past week’s events in Los Angeles showed what sports are all about at the end of the day — even if it felt jarring for Cardinals fans to see the Nest transformed.

With the midwestern presence in the Valley — especially this time of year — there was always going to be a split crowd. The environment had a bowl game feel in that sense, and there were plenty of back-and-forth chants on the concourse before introductions.

A mix of Rams and Vikings fans made their way to State Farm Stadium for the NFC Wild Card playoff game that was moved to Arizona due to the wildfires in Los Angeles. pic.twitter.com/ogBaLW2Uq3

— Arizona Sports (@AZSports) January 14, 2025

All parties involved did an admirable job attempting to create a Rams home game from the paint on the field to the in-stadium graphics to the Warren G performance during the third quarter.

“To have an opportunity to do something special, provide something of value for people that are going through a tough time, to pull that out the way we did there, it means a lot,” Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp said.

Thanks for opening your doors to us, @AZCardinals. 🫶 pic.twitter.com/9zgyUabQdk

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL) January 12, 2025

The NFL announced its decision on Thursday, giving the operations staff the weekend to make preparations. Several signs in the crowd showed support for Los Angeles and the first responders who have gone to battle with the wildfires, with phrases such as “LA Strong” and “Stay Strong LA.”

“This experience has been, bar none, amazing,” Jesus, a fan who made the trip on Sunday, said during a Rams pregame tailgate.

Former Rams star left tackle Andrew Whitworth addressed the crowd pregame, saying “We will rebuild,” before the opening kick off, and QR codes to donate to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation and American Red Cross were placed at each concession stand.

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The Arizona Cardinals signed three players to future contracts for the 2025 season, the team announced Monday.

Cornerback Ekow Boye-Doe, linebacker Elliott Brown and offensive lineman McClendon Curtis were all signed to future contracts which gives the trio the opportunity to compete for a roster spot in training camp.

Boye-Doe was born in Ghana and immigrated to the United States with his family as a 3-year-old. After four seasons at Kansas State, he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent. He played six games for the Super Bowl champion Chiefs before he was waived in August 2024. He later spent time on the New York Giants practice squad in 2024.

After a college career at Virginia, Brown spent the past two seasons in the Canadian Football League playing for the Edmonton Elks. Across two seasons, he played 27 games and recorded 10 sacks, 54 tackles and two forced fumbles for the Elks. 

Curtis appeared in five games for the Seattle Seahawks over the past two seasons while bouncing between the active roster and the practice squad. He originally signed with the Las Vegas Raiders as a free agent in May 2023 after going undrafted out of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2023. 

Monday’s moves come after the Cardinals also re-signed nine players to future contracts last Tuesday.

Arizona Cardinals 2025 future contracts

– Wide receiver Andre Baccellia
– Cornerback Ekow Boye-Doe
– Cornerback Jaden Davis
– Cornerback Darren Hall
– Offensive lineman McClendon Curtis
– Offensive lineman Matthew Jones
– Wide receiver Tejhaun Palmer
– Tight end Bernhard Seikovits
– Defensive lineman Anthony Goodlow
– Defensive lineman P.J. Mustipher
– Defensive lineman Ben Stille
– Linebacker Elliott Brown

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The Phoenix Suns ruled guard Grayson Allen out for the remainder of Sunday’s 120-113 win against the Charlotte Hornets due to left knee soreness.

Allen left the matchup after playing 13 minutes for the Suns in the first half. He scored 13 points and shot 4-of-7 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point range.

Allen has previously missed time this season due to a hamstring injury, Achilles soreness and being placed in the concussion protocol.

The injury comes after Suns forward Royce O’Neale returned to the lineup in Sunday’s game after missing the previous six games due to an ankle injury. Phoenix were without center Jusuf Nurkic due to an illness.

Despite trailing by five points entering the fourth quarter, the Suns outscored the Hornets 27-15 in the fourth quarter to secure their third straight win.

Devin Booker led the way for the Suns, scoring 30 points, registering three assists and shooting 10-of-20 from the field, including 4-of-9 from three-point range. Kevin Durant added scored 27 points on 11-of-24 shooting.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Hurts tossed two touchdown passes in his first game since a late-season concussion, Dallas Goedert threw three stiff-arms on a rugged touchdown catch and the Philadelphia Eagles rode their NFL-best defense to a 22-10 wild-card playoff win over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday night.

Hurts threw for a modest 131 yards but played with no hesitation in his return from a three-week layoff after a concussion in December. He started strong — six straight completions to open the game — and held off the Packers with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Goedert in the third quarter that will be forever stamped on the franchise’s postseason highlight reel.

Philadelphia’s defense handled the rest.

The Eagles turned a recovered fumble on the opening kickoff into Hurts’ first TD pass three plays later and the defense picked off Jordan Love twice in the first half. Holding a 19-10 lead in the fourth, the Eagles forced a turnover on downs when Green Bay had a fourth-and-3 on its own 41 with five minutes left in the game.

Quinyon Mitchell had one final interception of Love with 1:51 left in the game that sealed the win for the NFC East champions, who’ll host a division game next week at the Linc.

“It’s playoff football,” running back Saquon Barkley said. “That team is really well coached and they’ve got a lot of really great players. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

“At the end of the day, no matter how it looks, just want to get the win.”

Barkley, who led the NFL in rushing with 2,005 yards, had 119 yards in his Eagles’ postseason debut.

“A year ago, I put out a tweet when I was on my couch watching playoff football that I gotta find a way to get back in it,” said Barkley, who spent his first six NFL seasons with the New York Giants. “So I’m just happy to be here.

“And shoutout to my teammates and, most importantly, we move on. And we get another home game, so that’s good.”

The Eagles had the book on the Packers — and had time for some light reading as wide receiver A.J. Brown flipped through the pages of “Inner Excellence” by Jim Murphy while on the bench. Brown had one catch for 10 yards.

Love threw for 212 yards and was intercepted three times as he nursed a sore right elbow that was hurt in the regular-season finale against Chicago,

Josh Jacobs ran for 81 yards and a score — and popped Green Bay’s offense with a 31-yard run in the third where he shook off one tackle, had his jersey stretched to his heel by one defender, plowed one more and dragged two more hapless Eagles to the 1-yard line. Jacobs punched it in for the score on the next play and cut it to 16-10.

Aided by an unnecessary roughness flag on Green Bay, Hurts got the Eagles close enough for Jake Elliott to kick a 30-yard field goal for a 19-10 lead. Elliott needed the short kick for a confidence boost after he missed an extra point on Goedert’s touchdown.

Elliott, who struggled with kicks from 50-plus yards this season, added a 32-yarder in the fourth and a 31-yarder in the first quarter.

The Eagles had the Linc thumping, from the time the public address announcer put a little relish on his command to, “Welcome back to the Eagles lineup, Jalen Huurts,” to the recovered fumble moments later.

Green Bay’s Keisean Nixon had the ball knocked loose by Oren Burks and it was recovered by Jeremiah Trotter at the Green Bay 28. Hurts needed only three plays to find Jahan Dotson for an 11-yard touchdown.

Darius Slay went over his shoulder for the cornerback to haul in the ball like an elite receiver for an interception and All-Pro linebacker Zack Baun made it two for the Eagles. The Eagles didn’t score off those picks, but did keep the Packers off the board.

Hurts put all immediate questions about his health to rest when he completed his first six passes for 39 yards, including the TD to Dotson. He then missed his next seven going into the half. He didn’t complete another pass until late in the third quarter, then hit seven of his final eight overall, that included the Goedert TD catch.

Brandon McManus, who missed a 38-yard earlier, hit one from 26 yards to make it 10-3 at halftime.

Injuries

Packers: Lost receivers Romeo Doubs (concussion) and Jayden Reed (shoulder), offensive linemen Elgton Jenkins (stinger) and Josh Myers (left leg) and several defenders to injury.

Eagles: LB Nakobe Dean was ruled out quickly after leaving with a knee injury in the second quarter.

Up next

Packers: Season over.

Eagles: Wait to find out if they play Tampa Bay, the Vikings or the Rams.

TUSCON, Ariz. (AP) — Caleb Love scored 16 points, Anthony Dell’Orso made 9 of 9 from the free-throw line and finished with 15 points and Arizona beat UCF 88-80 Saturday night to extend its win streak to six games.

Love made 4 of 7 from 3-point range, grabbed eight rebounds and had six assists. Henri Veesaar added 14 points, Tobe Awaka scored 11 and KJ Lewis 10 for Arizona (10-5, 4-0 Big 12).

Love hit a pair of free throws to open the scoring about a minute into the game, followed with a 3-pointer to make it 5-0 and Arizona never trailed. The Wildcats scored nine consecutive points to take a 14-point lead when Awaka threw down a dunk with 9:38 remaining before halftime.

Darius Johnson hit a 3-pointer for UCF that tied it at 45-all 13 seconds into the second half but Trey Towsend made the first of two free throws 23 seconds later to give Arizona the lead for good. Jaden Ivy-Curry’s 3 cut the deficit to 53-50 but the Wildcats scored 13 of the next 17 points and led by at least eight points for the final 13 minutes.

Keyshawn Hall led UCF (11-4, 2-2 Big 12) with 22 points and Johnson scored 18.

Rokas Jocius converted a three-point play to spark an 18-6 spurt that made it 42-all but Trey Townsend was fouled as he made a layup and hit the and-1 free throw to give Arizona a three-point lead at the intermission.

Arizona made 15 of 30 from the field in the first half but the Knights, who shot 37% (14 of 38), used a 12-3 advantage on the offensive glass to outscore the Wildcats 11-3 in second-chance points.

TEMPE — Stagnant offensive performances have become commonplace for an ASU men’s basketball squad looking to translate its higher-end talent into contending in the Big 12.

It was again the case to start on Saturday, as the Sun Devils mustered a 20-point first half they were unable to make up for in a 72-66 overtime loss to Baylor at Desert Financial Arena.

Baylor made four of its first five shots in overtime while ASU missed its first six, which all but sealed the deal with 1:15 remaining.

A late Basheer Jihad 3 cut the deficit to four with 20.8 seconds left, but the Bears hit the required free throws down the stretch.

It was ASU’s first home loss of the season. The Sun Devils trailed by as much as 15 points.

How did ASU come back to force overtime vs. Baylor?

Adam Miller had a corner 3 to bring ASU within five with 6:22 remaining, and two-and-a-half minutes later, the Sun Devils forced a shot clock violation with a seven-point deficit at the final media timeout.

Jihad keyed a 7-2 run by himself before a fast break by BJ Freeman made it a one-score game. Freeman would then cut a six-point deficit to four before forcing a traveling violation by Baylor in its backcourt.

Free throws by Alston Mason made it a one-score game once again, and a Baylor shot clock violation gave ASU a chance with 18.8 seconds and down three, which Mason cashed in with a quick two instead.

After Jeremy Roach split two free throws, Miller scored on a fast break layup to tie the game with 1.9 seconds left.

“I’m not gonna lie. I knew if I got the ball, I was gonna shoot it, so I kind of just was, like, just trying to get as close as I can and throw it up, put a little touch on it,” Miller said postgame. “Knew if I was gonna get a chance to tie the game I was gonna take the shot.”

Forward Norchad Omier, Baylor’s leading scorer on the season, hit his third and fourth buckets on the night early in the second half to make it a 13-point lead, which is when the game started to swing back and forth.

Freeman responded with a 6-0 run by himself to cut the deficit to seven, and Baylor responded with an 8-0 run with Omier showing up again to get the second bucket.

Omier’s frontcourt mate Josh Ojiunwuna was also big for a Baylor group with a lot of length, as he and Omier finished with 31 points and 25 rebounds combined.

“We have to be able to drive their switches and try to take advantage of their bigs being on our guards. We didn’t do it great in the first half, I thought as the game wore on we were better,” coach Bobby Hurley said postgame. “That’s key, certainly, to hit the paint and kick out.”

Slow start puts ASU behind the 8-ball

Neither team had more than one made shot through the game’s first five minutes, as both defenses came out much more ready than their corresponding offensive units.

“We came out flat,” Miller said. “You just can’t come out like that, especially at home. You gotta be juiced up.”

When their offenses started to produce, ASU was most often able to do so on broken plays where a tough shot went down or the Baylor defense was slow to get back.

Baylor, meanwhile, more often strung multiple off-ball actions together to open up shots for some of their best players, such as VJ Edgecombe, who was ranked No. 4 on ESPN’s most recent top-100 NBA draft board.

ASU finished the first half with three assists to seven turnovers as a team.

ASU’s NBA hopefuls outdone by Baylor’s projected lottery pick

In a game featuring multiple freshmen with likely NBA futures, 6-foot-5 guard VJ Edgecombe of Baylor came out looking the best.

He led all scorers at the half with 12 points and had a 4-for-5 shooting stretch after starting the game with two misses.

Joson Sanon first returned from an ankle injury that kept him out of the last two after ASU started the game 2-for-9 start over 6:04, and he knocked down a baseline mid-ranger on his first possession back.

After a stretch of six games with at least 18 points (55.4% shooting and 58.8% from 3), Sanon had lost his rhythm when the team was on a three-game road trip in December (30.8% shooting and 25.0% on 3s).

He ended the night with the ankle wrapped after scoring five points on five shots in 17 minutes, though he played the final minute of overtime.

“He was on a minutes restriction for me,” Hurley said. “I thought he was fine moving, so hopefully we just keep building on it.”

Jayden Quaintance, who is self-admittedly still looking for his offensive footing, finished with just five points but communicated like he’s just waiting for the right support to set him up for success.

He managed two blocks in the game, continuing to make his greatest impact on the defensive end including with some early stops against Edgecombe.

“He can play anywhere. He’s just one of those guys, I got a freak on defense,” Hurley said. “If I had five of them, we’d have some defense.”

ASU next hosts UCF on Tuesday at 9 p.m. MST. The Golden Knights fell to Arizona on Saturday.

The Fiesta Bowl intends to draw more local fans to the event going forward, considering traveling parties may not be as consistent due to the expanding number of playoff games, CEO Erik Moses said.

When Penn State defeated Boise State at the Fiesta Bowl on New Year’s Eve for a quarterfinal game in the first expanded College Football Playoff, the announced attendance was 63,854, which Moses called strong. For a non-playoff game between Oregon and Liberty in 2023, the attendance was 47,769, while two years ago a CFP semifinal between TCU and Michigan drew a sell-out 71,723.

The crowd this time was noticeably Boise State heavy after Penn State already hosted a first-round CFP game in Happy Valley the week prior. Penn State was also heavily favored to win and advance to the Orange Bowl, which it did 31-14.

Moses suggested that asking fans to travel to two, three or even four playoff games can be a tall order for even the biggest supporters, and that could change the attendance outlook for the Fiesta Bowl.

Of course, this season is a test case for the new system, and Moses traveled to the Orange Bowl’s semifinal game to see how it played out. That uncertainty, though, has led to the thought of attracting more Valley football fans than the event traditionally has.

“We need to make certain that the large portion of our fanbase for these games, year over year, are local people who can drive to State Farm Stadium and who want to be involved in the celebration of college football and not just rely on people coming from the East Coast,” Moses told Arizona Sports’ Burns & Gambo on Wednesday.

“I got to tell you, I have really dear friends from the East Coast, having grown up in New Jersey, who went to Penn State. One in particular I offered tickets to the game to attend — she’s a Penn State grad — (for) her, her husband and her son. She said, ‘I’d love to come, but we’d go broke trying to pay the airfare.’ Imagine doing that three or four times.”

The new 12-team format provides a bye week for the top four conference winners, and none of the four with byes won their respective quarterfinal matchups.

They are playing their third playoff game this week with the opportunity to compete in a fourth. Penn State fell to Notre Dame Thursday evening, while Ohio State played Texas on Friday.

The Fiesta Bowl will host a semifinal next season, but with the new format, it won’t be on New Year’s Eve or Day per usual, which may have an impact on demographics.

“Dec. 31, Jan. 1 tend to be the typical times that the Fiesta Bowl happens,” Moses said. “This coming year, we’re Jan. 8 for the semifinal. People are back to work and back to school and what have you. So again, it’s going to be just imperative that local fans want to come out and attend these games and be part of all of that celebration of college football. We’re going to rely on it. We’re going to need it more and more every year.”

As fans, pundits and executives alike evaluate the new format — from criticizing seeding and the time off conference winners receive to discussing further expansion — Moses said he’d be surprised to see material changes next year.

For changes to be made next season, there needs a unanimous agreement among the College Football Playoff Board of Managers, which includes presidents from Power Four and Group of Five programs. ESPN college football senior writer Heather Dinich reported that changes for next season are unlikely.

“After the 2025 season, going into 2026 I could see that,” Moses said. “I think that probably starts with expansion. I think that probably starts with going to 14 or 16 teams. … I think if you are going to expand it in that way, that gives you the opportunity to clean up some other things as well.”

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The Arizona Diamondbacks claimed catcher Rene Pinto off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, the club announced.

Arizona’s 40-man roster is at 39 players, and Pinto is the fourth catcher along with Gabriel Moreno, Adrian Del Castillo and Jose Herrera.

Pinto, 28, has spent the past 12 years in the Tampa Bay Rays’ organization with 82 MLB games played over the past three years. The Orioles claimed him off waivers from Tampa Bay earlier this offseason.

In 154 plate appearances over the past two years, Pinto produced a batting line of .241/.275/.448 with eight home runs and six doubles. In 53 games for Triple-A Durham last year, he slashed .191/.257/.373.

René Pinto spent eight seasons in the Rays farm system.

The 25-year-old hit a home run in his MLB debut Tuesday night.

🎥 @MLBPipeline pic.twitter.com/kKJTx3QsFJ

— The Athletic MLB (@TheAthleticMLB) April 27, 2022

When he makes contact, Pinto hits the ball hard with a career 90.6 mph exit velocity, 45% hard hit rate and 12.9% barrel rate, all of which are well above league average. However, Pinto has a career 36.7% strikeout percentage, way above the MLB average of 22.2%.

That is the 10th highest K rate among players with at least 200 plate appearances over the past three years, a list of 578 hitters.

His defensive metrics don’t jump off the page with a career -3 defensive runs saved and -3 run value via Statcast.

Where does Rene Pinto fit into Diamondbacks’ depth chart

Moreno has established himself as the franchise’s starting catcher, but his backup come Opening Day will be a competition in spring training.

Veteran non-roster invitee Tucker Barnhart won the job last over incumbent backup Herrera, but the D-backs gave the job back to Herrera in July. Del Castillo made his MLB debut on Aug. 7 when Moreno went on the injured list and hit .313 with an .893 OPS in 25 games, although his defense remains a work in progress.

Arizona also signed catcher Aramis Garcia to a minor league deal this offseason.

Pinto will join the group at spring training as the club figures out its plan behind Moreno.

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