Xavier Basketball: Musketeers make a case for an NCAA Tournament 1-seed

Xavier basketball’s victory over top-ranked Villanova finally gives the team a marquee win that its resume lacked.

Xavier started the season on a tear, charging up the rankings after a 12-0 start that featured a number of quality wins when most top teams were scheduling cupcakes to pad their records. As a result, a team that started the season unranked climbed all the way to No. 6 in the AP Poll. The rapid rise ended on New Years Eve, when the Musketeers went to Philadelphia to take on defending Big East champion Villanova.

Xavier’s talented freshman Edmond Sumner had to be taken from the court on a stretcher in the opening minutes of the game and the Wildcats coasted to a 95-64 victory. It was the sixth time in six games that Villanova beat the Musketeers since Xavier moved to the Big East, and the games typically hadn’t been close. Heading into Wednesday’s action, Villanova averaged 81.3 points per contest compared to 64.2 for Xavier.

As the season went on, many of the team’s impressive early-season wins lost their luster. Disappointing results from once-promising teams like Cincinnati, Michigan, Butler and struggling Providence left Xavier without a win over a top team. Villanova’s return trip to the Cintas Center was the only guaranteed chance the Musketeers would have at a win over one of the nation’s elite.

Despite Xavier’s early season wins looking less impressive, the Musketeers gradually inched back up the rankings. The team survived a couple of dips that came after losses to Georgetown and Creighton. Still, it seemed like the margin of victory in the Villanova loss permanently capped Xavier a few spots below the Wildcats. Fortunately for the Musketeers, a number of losses by teams at the top of the rankings allowed Villanova to earn the No. 1 overall ranking and Xavier cracked the top-5.

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Wednesday night, the Musketeers finally got a chance to exorcize its demons against a Villanova team that has accomplished too much to lose its high ranking. Xavier delivered, winning 90-83.

Villanova entered the game as the top-ranked team in the AP Poll, the Coaches Poll, and Ken Pomeroy’s rankings. The Wildcats also ranked No. 2 in the RPI.

Adding that kind of victory to a resume that already featured a 6-1 record against the RPI top-50 and a 11-3 record against the RPI Top 100 puts the Musketeers in a great position for a top-seed in March. With the win, Xavier improves to 25-3 and now ranks third in the RPI.

The fact that Xavier led comfortably for most of the second half should help convince critics that the 31-point blowout two months prior was at least in part due to the trauma of watching a teammate carted off the court. A healthy Sumner put up 19 points and set a new career high with 9 assists in the win.

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If Xavier can win its last two regular season games and make a strong run in the Big East Tournament, it’s possible that it could grab a 1-seed. Depending on how other conference races play out, the Musketeers may not even need a better Big East Tournament than Villanova to make it to the top line. Carnage in other top conferences could easily open the door for a pair of Big East 1-seeds.