Just one thing here: Xavier Basketball

Here's a breakdown of our 3 common opponents.  We had the luxury of playing all 3 at home where as the Irish did not.  We certainly fared better but 5 of the 6 games below were very early on in the season.  While the Muskies started strong and then faded, the Irish did the opposite and were on fire during the conference season.

Common Opponents (H=Home, A=Away, N=Neutral site)
               Notre Dame     Xavier
Georgia    L by 4(N)      W by 14(H)
Gonzaga  L by 20(A)    L by 7(H)
Cincy       L by 16(A)    W by 23(H)

More stats:
              Notre Dame     Xavier
RPI            39                 41
SOS          38                 36
vs top50   4-7               4-6
RPI            

Best Win:
Notre Dame - Syracuse (RPI 1) - note that Syracuse's Center was out
Xavier - Vanderbilt (RPI 20) - note that Vandy's Center was out

Worst Loss:
Notre Dame - at Rutgers (RPI 163)
Xavier - at Hawaii (RPI 200) - note that XU's Lyons and Wells were out

As you can see, on paper, these two teams' resumes match up pretty closely.  One positive leaning towards the Muskies is that we're 3-2 on Neutral floors while ND is 1-4. The Irish like to slow the game down, a style we are familiar with playing against after seeing St. Louis three times this year.  We didn't fare well the first two times, but beat them on our 3rd try in the A10 Tourney. Hopefully we can apply some of what we used in that win to this game. Only 7 players for Notre Dame play more than 10 minutes a game. I'm hopeful that the Muskies can push the ball and try to make the Irish play a faster-paced game than they'd like to.

The Muskies should be well-rested and prepared for this one.  We will need a solid effort from the Seniors in addition to a few others stepping it up.  In Mack's old stomping ground, I think the Muskies pull this one out and bring home a victory!

GO MUSKIES!