Xavier's Streak of Non-Losing Conference Season

[GoMuskies]

I think it stretches back to 1981 or 1982, an incredible 30+ seasons without a losing conference record. With yesterday's loss, I am officially concerned about the continuing viability of this streak. Can the Muskies scratch out two more wins against Nova, Butler, @STJ and @Creighton? It will not be easy.

[OTRMUSKIE]

Yes because somehow this team will find a way to dance again. It will be in Dayton but they will do it. The only game I see them losing is Nova and Creighton. Will 20-12 get them in the dance? They will have to win one in the tourney.

[muskiefan82]

It stretches back to the 1982-83 season. I have looked forward each year to posting the continued streak update, but I have concerns this year. That DePaul roadie and the home Creighton game are looming large....

[X-band '01]

Butler is going to be shorthanded for a couple of weeks with Andrew Chrabascz having surgery to fix a broken bone in his hand. They've got a trap game at Creighton before their trip to Cincy on Saturday. Games at home against Marquette and DePaul on the road are winnable, but it wouldn't surprise me if they drop one of these games in the interim.

They also finish their regular season with Georgetown at home and Providence on the road.

[xubrew]

There are two things that are different now.

The team isn't quite as good as it was from 07-08 through 11-12.

The teams in our conference are a lot better than they were from 07-08 through 11-12.

This isn't aimed at GO at all. He's one of the sane ones. I'm just choosing to make this point on this thread for....well, I'm not really sure, but I am making it here. This board is a pendulum that swings with a very high range. We lose and everyone wants to fire the coach and shut down the program. We win, and people are booking their travel arrangements for the Final Four. It's somewhat humorous.

We've got a better chance of making the tournament than we do of missing it. If that's how we're going to define a "down year" I'll take it all day long.

[GoMuskies]

There are two things that are different now.

The team isn't quite as good as it was from 07-08 through 11-12.

The teams in our conference are a lot better than they were from 07-08 through 11-12.


This is true. It was also true when we switched from the MCC to the A-10. As a matter of fact, that was a BIGGER step up for the program, and the 95-96 team staggering to an 8-8 finish was really the closest brush we've had with ending that streak in a long time.

I think this is an amazing streak that I would love to see continue for 30 more years!

[XUFan09]

There are two things that are different now.

The team isn't quite as good as it was from 07-08 through 11-12.

The teams in our conference are a lot better than they were from 07-08 through 11-12.

This isn't aimed at GO at all. He's one of the sane ones. I'm just choosing to make this point on this thread for....well, I'm not really sure, but I am making it here. This board is a pendulum that swings with a very high range. We lose and everyone wants to fire the coach and shut down the program. We win, and people are booking their travel arrangements for the Final Four. It's somewhat humorous.

We've got a better chance of making the tournament than we do of missing it. If that's how we're going to define a "down year" I'll take it all day long.

I suppose this is technically a down year, but I view last year as more of a down year and this one as a disappointing year, barring a big run. Last year's team didn't have the shooters to be a strong offensive team and didn't have the footspeed at the 3 through 5 to be a strong defensive team, so just making the tournament was alright, even if I was hoping for a seed or two higher. This season, the team will still probably make the tournament, but I felt they should have been fighting for a protected seed (1-4), even if they fell short (e.g. 6 or 7 seed). Now, a 6 or 7 is their realistic ceiling, and they are more likely to be wearing the road uniforms than hitting that ceiling.

[X-band '01]

Today's useless stat of the day:

Xavier is 3-6 against the Big East on the first end of the home/home (wins against Georgetown, Seton Hall and Marquette)

Xavier is 4-1 against the Big East on the second end (wins against DePaul, Georgetown, Providence and Marquette and the only loss at Seton Hall).

The one problem here is that Xavier is only going to get one shot against UC this upcoming week.

[GoMuskies]

they are more likely to be wearing the road uniforms than hitting that ceiling.

The only possible way I see Xavier wearing the home unis is if they're in Dayton as the "home" team in a play-in game.

[XUFan09]

The only possible way I see Xavier wearing the home unis is if they're in Dayton as the "home" team in a play-in game.

Xavier currently stands right in that 8/9 range, so they are right on the border of home vs. away uniforms.

[GoMuskies]

Yeah, I'm selling the notion that we're that close to a #8 or better seed. Of course, with a roadie @ UC, home game games against two top 20 (and one of those top 5ish) teams and a road game against a top 50 team to go, our situation is likely to whipsaw around quite a bit down the stretch. It's hard to fathom that going in a positive direction from here the way the team has played of late....but who the hell knows with the mass of schizophrenia that is this team.

[Xavier]

This isn't aimed at GO at all. He's one of the sane ones. I'm just choosing to make this point on this thread for....well, I'm not really sure, but I am making it here. This board is a pendulum that swings with a very high range. We lose and everyone wants to fire the coach and shut down the program. We win, and people are booking their travel arrangements for the Final Four. It's somewhat humorous.

We've got a better chance of making the tournament than we do of missing it. If that's how we're going to define a "down year" I'll take it all day long.

I agree the swings of this board are crazy. I'm not sure if I consider it a down year but I hope it isn't becoming the norm. Where we struggle to make the tournament. At this point in the season I was used to Xavier playing for a better seed, lately its been fighting for a hope to just get in. I hope we get in- but I don't consider that to be a successful season, really. I fear that a lot of people at this point are going to start being happy to get in even when our seed will be 9-12 range(not talking this year, specifically, but in the future).

My expectations for this program may be too high- but I feel Xavier ought to be in the 7 seed or better range more often than not with the occasional "down" year being the 11/12 seed or on the wrong side of the bubble. Again, I will be happy making it this year- but I hope this isn't a trend and we get back on track of fighting for seeds instead of just being happy to make the tournament.

[LadyMuskie]

This isn't aimed at GO at all. He's one of the sane ones. I'm just choosing to make this point on this thread for....well, I'm not really sure, but I am making it here. This board is a pendulum that swings with a very high range. We lose and everyone wants to fire the coach and shut down the program. We win, and people are booking their travel arrangements for the Final Four. It's somewhat humorous.



I don't think this is true at all.

I think that a lot of the "loud" posters on here are either loud optimistically or loud pessimistically and they get a lot of attention because their posts are bizarre, but I don't think most of us fall into that category. It's akin to believing that the majority of Americans are either ultra conservative tea partiers or ultra liberal radicals.

There are certainly people who are concerned with the losses and the play of the team, but most of us (and I include myself here) aren't saying fire Mack and are making reasonable arguments. It falls to two or three posters being insanely over the top whenever we lose. On the other side of the coin, I can only think of a handful posters who refuse to ever say anything the least bit negative about Coach Mack or the team - and to be honest I'm not even sure they believe deep down that we're a final four team. For the most part, even the pleasantly optimistic posters acknowledge some issues and those more prone to be pessimistic are still rooting for the team and coaches to kick ass in each game.

Either way, though, I don't think we're the only fan base who wants to believe we're the best team in the nation when we win or the worst team on the planet when we lose.

[xubrew]

I agree the swings of this board are crazy. I'm not sure if I consider it a down year but I hope it isn't becoming the norm. Where we struggle to make the tournament. At this point in the season I was used to Xavier playing for a better seed, lately its been fighting for a hope to just get in. I hope we get in- but I don't consider that to be a successful season, really. I fear that a lot of people at this point are going to start being happy to get in even when our seed will be 9-12 range(not talking this year, specifically, but in the future).

My expectations for this program may be too high- but I feel Xavier ought to be in the 7 seed or better range more often than not with the occasional "down" year being the 11/12 seed or on the wrong side of the bubble. Again, I will be happy making it this year- but I hope this isn't a trend and we get back on track of fighting for seeds instead of just being happy to make the tournament.

I think that's a fair expectation, but I also think you have to realize that Xavier hasn't had a #7 seed or better since 2011. What they have done is gotten steadily better (perhaps too steadily for some peoples' liking) over the past three years.