On UA softball vs. the SEC, baseball’s issues, Bryant’s draft stock | Michael Lev

Current and former Arizona Wildcats are making news. We’ve got views:

News: The UA softball team gets the No. 13 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and will host a regional for the first time since 2021.

Views: Arizona will have to go through at least one SEC team, and possibly two, to advance to the Women’s College World Series.

Ole Miss is the No. 2 seed in the Tucson Regional. No. 4 overall seed Arkansas looms in the Super Regionals.

It’s a familiar path and an inevitability in this post-realignment world; it’s almost impossible to avoid SEC teams as you work your way through the bracket.

Like the Big 12, the SEC now has 16 members. Whereas 11 schools play softball in the Big 12, 15 play it in the SEC.

Fourteen of those teams made the NCAA Tournament, including Georgia, Kentucky and Auburn, who were all 7-16 or worse in conference play.

Does the SEC unfairly get the benefit of the doubt come Selection Sunday (softball) and Monday (baseball)? I’d say yes. But ESPN softball analyst Kenzie Fowler, a UA alum, couldn’t deny the league’s strength — especially with Oklahoma and Texas now on board. The Sooners have won the past four WCWS titles. The Longhorns have made seven appearances and were national runners-up in 2022 and ‘24.

“I don’t think at this point anyone’s going to catch the SEC,” Fowler said. “It is a different level right now.”

With the breakup of the Pac-12, the SEC is indisputably the No. 1 softball conference in America. That doesn’t mean Arizona can’t beat two of its members to make it to Oklahoma City.

The Wildcats played two games against SEC opponents this season and split them. They drubbed then-No. 11 Alabama 9-1 on Feb. 8 and lost to then-No. 1 Texas 8-4 in eight innings on Feb. 22.

Arizona defeated Arkansas last season en route to sweeping the Fayetteville Regional. The UA went 4-0 vs. Missouri and Mississippi State to make the WCWS in 2022.

The Wildcats have done it before. They can do it again.

News: The UA baseball team concludes the regular season with a three-game series at Houston.

Views: The Wildcats picked a bad time to have a bad week, dropping three of four games, including two of three at home against last-place Utah.

The sense of urgency they showed in winning Sunday — responding to every Utes counterstrike — is no longer optional. They need to battle to win every at-bat moving forward.

Getting a top-four seed in the Big 12 Tournament — and avoiding having to play an extra game next Wednesday — is still in play. But Arizona no longer controls its fate. Even if they were to sweep Houston, the Wildcats would need help to get that coveted bye.

While the offense has been a greater source of consternation for most of the season, the pitching staff worries me more heading down the stretch. Arizona didn’t exactly light up the scoreboard Friday and Saturday, but scoring five or six runs ought to be enough most nights. In fact, before losing to TCU 13-6 on May 4, Arizona had won 27 consecutive games when scoring six or more runs.

That game was the start of the Wildcats’ four-game losing streak. The scores in the losses vs. Utah were 8-6 and 13-5.

Arizona has allowed more than 10 runs eight times this season. Two of those games were on opening weekend. It’s happened three times since April 26 — plus three other games where the opposition scored between seven and nine runs.

The Wildcats are changing their rotation again, subbing Raul Garayzar for Collin McKinney, who hasn’t thrown enough strikes to keep his spot. If Garayzar can provide more length, that should ease the burden on the bullpen.

Garrett Hicks and Casey Hintz were two of its most reliable members early in the season, but both have struggled of late. Arizona needs them to find their form to make any sort of postseason run.

News: UA men’s basketball freshman Carter Bryant participates in the NBA Draft Scouting Combine.

Views: With each passing day, it’s becoming less likely that Bryant will return to Arizona.

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Monday’s NBA Draft Lottery produced another round of mock drafts. At least two had him going in the top half of the first round.

ESPN projected Bryant to the San Antonio Spurs with the 14th pick. The Athletic had him going to the Chicago Bulls with the 12th pick. The guaranteed salary for the No. 12 pick is more than $4 million per year.

“Bryant is the guy in this class who seems to have a ton of juice when you talk to front offices, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him land in the top 10,” The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie wrote. “I think I’d park his range in the No. 7 to No. 16 area.”

At this point, Bryant has more to lose than gain by coming back. If he were projected to be a late first-rounder, it’d be a different discussion.

Barring something unforeseen, Arizona won’t be able to acquire a player of Bryant’s caliber; if you’re that good, you’re going pro.

As such, it’s becoming more likely that both of the Wildcats’ five-star freshmen, Koa Peat and Brayden Burries, will be members of the starting five this season.

News: Tight end Keyan Burnett returns to UA football after spending one semester at Kansas.

Views: When it comes to the transfer portal, you should always expect the unexpected.

When Burnett first entered the portal on Dec. 7, Arizona hadn’t hired Seth Doege yet. When Burnett committed to Kansas on Dec. 23, the UA hadn’t hired tight ends coach Josh Miller yet.

Things change.

After going through spring ball, both coaches recognized the need for another tight end. Doege previously had recruited Burnett to USC, where the tight end was committed in 2021 before flipping to Arizona.

Doege knows how dynamic Burnett can be. But it’s up to Burnett to prove it — something he has yet to do.

I was convinced Burnett was going to have a breakout season last year after a dominant training camp. Aside from the Utah game, it never came to fruition. Blame a combination of injuries and Arizona’s season-long offensive funk.

It’s hard to fault a player for getting hurt, but Burnett needs to do everything in his power to be ready to play on Saturdays this season. Whether that’s training differently or playing through pain, Burnett has to make himself available.

If he can, that breakout potential still exists. I’m not selling my Keyan Burnett stock just yet.

News: The UA men’s tennis team is eliminated in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years.

Views: What will it take for Clancy Shields’ team to take the next step?

Landing a top-eight seed would be a start.

All four Sweet 16 losses occurred on the road against higher-seeded teams: Tennessee (2021), Ohio State (2023), Columbia (2024) and Virginia (2025).

Arizona has yet to host a Sweet 16 match. No Sweet 16 opponent has felt the heat of Tucson in mid-May.

I’m not going to profess to be an expert on the ITA’s “rankings algorithm,” but strength of schedule is part of it. So Shields needs to schedule up — assemble as many top-level nonconference opponents as possible to boost the Wildcats’ SOS.

Arizona loses three seniors off this year’s team, including ATP-bound Colton Smith, but current ITA No. 6 Jay Friend leads a deep roster of returners.

I refuse to believe — and I’m sure Shields would concur — that UA men’s tennis has plateaued. The program has never been in better shape. Shields and the Wildcats aren’t done ascending.