BYU baseball has never been on a breakfast menu, but Wednesday, when the Cougars face Arizona State in the first round of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championships (8 a.m. MDT, ESPN+), they will be right next to the cereal and orange juice and competing for television time against “Sesame Street” or the “Today Show.”
This is literally the dawn of a new day. With the tournament expanding to 12 teams at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, staging four games on Wednesday and Thursday required an early start and a late finish.
As a result of BYU’s late-season surge to earn the 12th seed, the Cougars (27-26, 10-20) get the early first pitch against the Sun Devils (35-21, 18-12). When compared to regional body clocks, it will feel like an 8 a.m. start for BYU and a 7 a.m. start for Arizona State — which resides in the Pacific Time Zone.
Up until Wednesday, “The Breakfast of Champions” meant a bowl of Wheaties, however, for BYU to commandeer an upset, the Cougars will need more of a Cap’n Crunch mentality to sail in these rough seas.
There are plenty of cereal slogans on the market that have withstood the test of time — Froot Loops (“Follow your nose”), Trix (“Trix are for kids”), Lucky Charms (“Magically Delicious”), and Frosted Flakes (“They’re Gr-r-reat!”), but when it comes to a single elimination baseball tournament, no one gets it quite like the Cap’n — “It’s got corn for crunch, oats for punch, and it stays crunchy, even in milk.”
That pitch phrase, born in 1963, provides a blueprint for BYU’s Wednesday success in 2025 — the Cougars need crunch, punch and resiliency.
The “crunch” must come from a plucky defense. Even during its rocky ride through conference play, BYU finished No. 2 in turning double plays (53), No. 4 in fielding percentage and No. 4 (among 14 teams) in fewest errors (45).
The “punch” belongs to the offense. Despite leading the league in strikeouts (534), the Cougars are tied for No. 3 in RBI (383), tied for No. 5 in doubles (115) and tied for No. 5 in runs scored (405).
The “resiliency” is required by the pitchers. BYU finished last in the Big 12 in earned run average (7.22) with the most walks (284), the most hit batters (84) and second-most wild pitches (57). There will be some tough innings against the Sun Devils, but the pitchers must, in the words of the Cap’n — “stay crunchy, even in milk.”
With their backs to the wall last week and in need of a strong performance against Texas Tech to qualify for the Big 12 tournament, BYU’s defense brought the crunch, the offense gave some punch, and some resilient pitching allowed the Cougars to win the series 2-1 and outscore the Red Raiders 23-16.
Picked to finish last in the preseason Big 12 poll, BYU edged out UCF and Utah for the final playoff spot. Even while sailing through turbulent waters, the Cougars managed to log victories against tournament foes West Virginia, Arizona, Kansas, Kansas State, Cincinnati and Texas Tech.
Arizona State swept BYU in April by a combined 36-13. All three games were 7:30 p.m. starts in Tempe — late nights for the Cougars. Wednesday is different. The elimination game is in the early morning and BYU is riding the high of a series win to get in, while Arizona State is reeling from a three-game sweep at Oklahoma State.
Momentum in sports is a thing. So is choosing the right cereal to start a new day — or a new tournament.
If Cap’n Horatio Crunch played baseball, his cereal slogan infers that he would defend, deliver timely hits and pitch in a way to keep his team in the game — not sure if Toucan Sam, Tony the Tiger or even Snap, Crackle or Pop could say the same.
Wheaties may still be “The Breakfast of Champions” but that can wait until Saturday’s Big 12 finale. As for Wednesday’s first-round clash at 8 a.m (MDT), a big bowl of Cap’n Crunch mentality might just be what BYU needs to make it to lunch — and into the second round.
Dave McCann is a sportswriter and columnist for the Deseret News and is a play-by-play announcer and show host for BYUtv/ESPN+. He co-hosts “Y’s Guys” at ysguys.com and is the author of the children’s book “C is for Cougar,” available at deseretbook.com