Just one thing here: Xavier Basketball

XAVIER WINS! XAVIER WINS XAVIER WINS!!!

A lot of history will be made on Wednesday:

- The 2 schools tied with each other with the best record in the country currently (24-3) will be playing each other.
- Xavier has not beaten Villanova since joining the Big East.
- Cintas Center has never hosted a game between top 5 teams and never hosted a game involving a #1 ranked team.
- In school history, Xavier has never played in a game where both teams were ranked in the top 5.
- Xavier has beaten the #1 team in the nation 3 times in program history. Wednesday night they will try for a 4^th.
- With Edmund Sumner leaving with a concussion 2 minutes into the first game, Villanova has never played 40 minutes against this Xavier basketball team.

I think it's obvious to Xavier fans and well-informed hoops fans around the nation that Xavier has become a top college basketball program. Just one time in the last decade has Xavier not made the Tourney (and that was the year the best player was hastily expelled from XU). But there’s been a growing feeling that there is a level of respect we still lack. The Top 25 Polls are mostly a joke as we all know, but more so to a Xavier fan than the average fan.  Why? Nearly every year, Xavier starts the year unranked in the polls and finishes ranked. It is crazy how this consistently happens year after year.  Why the lack of the respect? Certainly Xavier not having a Final Four appearance yet is a part of it. The fact that ESPN's TV deals don't include the Big East Conference doesn't help. ESPN would be going absolutely crazy with coverage leading up to this game if it was carried on ESPN instead of Fox Sports. I’d like to also note that so many of the sports writers and analysts out there now seem to carry biases with them toward the traditional power conference teams. The examples showing this are everywhere so let’s not dive into all that here. From looking at the resumes and watching the schools, there’s no way you can rank Xavier behind anyone other than Villanova and Kansas at this point in the season. Does that and do rankings ultimately matter? No. March (and early April) is all that really matters. If X is not getting the respect they deserve as a top program, then a win against the #1 team in the nation and a Final Four run is the formula to start earning that respect.

Xavier has the coaches, the rebounders, the scorers, and the depth to beat anyone in the country.

What better place than here? What better time than now?

Let’s kick the door in! Let's make history! Let's Go Muskies!

Xavier made up for their onlyhome loss of the season with a solid win over Georgetown in Washington, D.C. on Saturday.

Next up, another Revenge game and the games don't get any bigger than this....#1 Villanova will be at Cintas Wednesday night!  Preview to come.

(Couldn't stop myself from posting the pic above, an old favorite!)

Xavier looks to keep a stronghold on the 2nd spot in the Big East while Providence is trying to avoid another loss after a rough patch of late.

Can we slow down Bentil and Dunn?  Expect Xavier to run a lot of 1-3-1 zone defense as the Friars are not a great 3-point shooting team and this will eliminate having to guard Dunn 1 on 1.  I would also expect a fast pace of play by the Muskies as Xavier's bench is deeper and can handle the pace much better than Providence.

Go Muskies!!!

After what could have been one of the worst shooting nights in Xavier basketball history, Xavier's chance to recover is Saturday afternoon at Butler.

1 for 21 from 3-pt land at Creighton tells the story of Tuesday night's defeat at a sold-out, loud road game at Creighton. But Xavier is still firmly in the 2nd place spot of the Big East and in the hunt for a very good seed in the Big Dance.

Nothing would make me feel better than a win on the road against Butler so let's do it. Trevon Blueitt and Myles Davis need to step up big after a rough game last time out!