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!

It looks like the Muskies will tip-off closer to 10PM than 9:30 on Friday.  More than half of the original 68 teams will be eliminated before XU's 1st game is decided.  And it may even be St. Patrick's Day when it the game ends as well.

The Irish are getting to celebrate their favorite holiday Saturday, let's hope that'll be all they celebrate.  They are a 2 1/2 point favorite over the Muskies.  The Muskies are in an underdog role that we have certainly thrived in, in years past.  A slight underdog tomorrow, a 30 to 1 long-shot to win the South region, and a 200 to 1 long-shot to win the whole tourney...maybe those numbers will make our Muskies that much more hungry this March.

 Let's face it, if we lose to Notre Dame, we're going to be reminded of that loss every 5 seconds on the following day when everyone is uglied up in their green wear.

We'll get into a more statistical break-down later.  
   
Go Muskies!

Go to the link below and enter the password to join in the fun!

http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/en/group?groupID=188758

Private Group Name: Xavier Basketball.comFans
Password: xavierbasketball

What's on the line?  Bragging rights over your friends.

Go Muskies!

If you're an out of town Muskie fan, see if the Xavier chapter in your city has a designated place to unite and cheer on our Muskies...

http://www.xavier.edu/alumni/content/get-informed/basketball.cfm#viewing

Scroll halfway down that page and you'll see what chapters are hosting and where.  Hope you can enjoy the game Friday night with some fellow Musketeers.

GO MUSKIES!!!

We lost to the Bonnies in the A10 title game.  It was not fun. Nicholson was out of this world and was getting the foul calls that a NBA star gets.  But guess what, time to forget about that and move on.

Looks like about a 9:40 tip Friday night against the Irish!  Should be a good one.  Much more to come.

MARCH ON MUSKIES!!!