Providence, Ugh ...

[Roach]

Lost to DePaul tonight. That team can't figure itself out ...

[X-band '01]

Bentil was shaken up pretty badly in the 1st half. That said, it's scary how any prolonged absence of either Bentil or Dunn affects the Friars this season.

[XUGRAD80]

Combined with Butler taking down G'town, this gives X a 2 game lead over them for 2nd place in the conference.

[Masterofreality]

Wow. That is a horrible loss and drops them to 28 in the RPI.

[GreatWhiteNorth]

-----and a serious drop in ranking.

[GoMuskies]

-----and a serious drop in ranking.

If they lose to Nova, I wouldn't be surprised to see Providence fall all the way out of the ratings. Based on most other metrics, they were highly overrated headed into last night anyway.

[EastCoastXman]

Did you see Kris Dunn Stat line last night? The last few games he looks like anything but a POY candidate. I bet he is leading the BE in air balls! I think he had 2-3 against us last week. Last night he was 5/20 shooting! He looks very frustrated and disinterested with the players around him (except for Bentil). Bet he can't wait for June draft day but the way he is playing he will be sliding down the mock draft. By the way to his credit he did have 8 assists with 2 TO's and 6 boards.

[Xville]

I think many on here are going to disagree with me, but I think its possible that Seton Hall is the third best team in the Big East.

[xu82]

Bentil was shaken up pretty badly in the 1st half. That said, it's scary how any prolonged absence of either Bentil or Dunn affects the Friars this season.

That's the disadvantage of having "the 2 best players on the floor". Having players 3-10 is nice sometimes. Remember the days when we'd be SOL without Tu? Makes you susceptible to injury, or just a bad night. I LOVE our team.

[XUFan09]

That's the disadvantage of having "the 2 best players on the floor". Having players 3-10 is nice sometimes. Remember the days when we'd be SOL without Tu? Makes you susceptible to injury, or just a bad night. I LOVE our team.
After losing Redford to injury in the third practice of the season, it's incredible how little that 2011 team suffered from injuries. They couldn't afford it, either.

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[EastCoastXman]

I agree that Seton Hall is a possible 3rd place team. They play Marquette at home tonight and a win puts them in a tie for 3rd with Gtown and Providence. Then Saturday Providence is home to Villanova and SHU goes up against Gtown at the Pru Center. They could be alone in 3rd by Sunday.

[zanesxu]

We've had a very good season. However, skeptics could viably argue the quality of many of our wins due to recent questionable performance from those wins (UC, USC, UD, Seton Hall, Providence, Butler, Michigan all outside of Kenpom top 25; UD & USC are top 25 RPI).

We need a win vs. Nova, a no-doubt top 5-10 team... only team we haven't beat in BE...

[sgarcia]

They shouldn't be skeptical. We dominated every team on that list you mentioned outside of a 5 minute span in the 2nd half at Providence.

[scoscox]

Did you see Kris Dunn Stat line last night? The last few games he looks like anything but a POY candidate. I bet he is leading the BE in air balls! I think he had 2-3 against us last week. Last night he was 5/20 shooting! He looks very frustrated and disinterested with the players around him (except for Bentil). Bet he can't wait for June draft day but the way he is playing he will be sliding down the mock draft. By the way to his credit he did have 8 assists with 2 TO's and 6 boards.

I'd be disinterested in them too. The rest of that team is bad. Rodney Bullock is the 3rd best player. That's not good.

[zanesxu]

They shouldn't be skeptical. We dominated every team on that list you mentioned outside of a 5 minute span in the 2nd half at Providence.

I agree they "shouldn't", but as the Eammon Brennan article shows that was routing on here the past week shows, rational, logical thinking is not a requirement for the talking hairdos...

[Masterofreality]

We've had a very good season. However, skeptics could viably argue the quality of many of our wins due to recent questionable performance from those wins (UC, USC, UD, Seton Hall, Providence, Butler, Michigan all outside of Kenpom top 25; UD & USC are top 25 RPI).

We need a win vs. Nova, a no-doubt top 5-10 team... only team we haven't beat in BE...

As Gary Parrish pointed out in Poll Attacks, no team in College Basketball has more wins vs the Top 50 than Xavier - 7. We've won those games comfortably too. We're fine.

[XfansinKy]

Dam! I was just thinking the other day how good it would be if 2 or 3 teams really separated themselves from the rest as legit national contenders and another 2 or 3 kinda sneak in the tournament. I don't know how possible that's gonna be.

[Xville]

that is the unknown though...if we want to get to a final four...most likely we are going to have to beat someone in the Kenpom top 25. Can we beat an Oklahoma, Kansas, villanova, North Carolina etc.? That's why I don't understand why people get their panties in a bunch when we aren't proclaimed the best team in the nation or a national championship contender. We haven't proved we are yet....we are a damn good team, but there is a difference between being damn good, and making it to the final four with a chance to win the whole effing thing.

[Xavier]

Yeah, on one hand I feel we haven't really beat a great team but we haven't had the opportunity (-Nova). For the most part we have looked really really good against a solid schedule.

On the other hand, who the hell knows. Really tough because there are so many average to above average teams. Providence is a team that could lose first round or get to sweet 16. Sounds like a ton of teams this year. From what I've seen I think X is on a different level than that bunch amd there are not a ton of teams that are.

[drudy23]

Did you see Kris Dunn Stat line last night? The last few games he looks like anything but a POY candidate. I bet he is leading the BE in air balls! I think he had 2-3 against us last week. Last night he was 5/20 shooting! He looks very frustrated and disinterested with the players around him (except for Bentil). Bet he can't wait for June draft day but the way he is playing he will be sliding down the mock draft. By the way to his credit he did have 8 assists with 2 TO's and 6 boards.

It's very easy for opposing coaches to devise a gameplan to ensure 2 guys don't beat you. Anyone would struggle with that amount of attention.

[GIMMFD]

Yeah, on one hand I feel we haven't really beat a great team but we haven't had the opportunity (-Nova). For the most part we have looked really really good against a solid schedule.

On the other hand, who the hell knows. Really tough because there are so many average to above average teams. Providence is a team that could lose first round or get to sweet 16. Sounds like a ton of teams this year. From what I've seen I think X is on a different level than that bunch amd there are not a ton of teams that are.

The tournament is very hard to predict without at least seeing the field, and the match-ups, and even when you see them it's still hard as hell to predict. I do believe we have a great squad, but as XVILLE said we haven't proved it yet. That's going to come as we continue to take care of business as we need to do to Marquette and St. John's this week, and just keep trucking on.

[letskeepitreal]

We are really good but I agree that we haven't proven ourselves yet capable of winning it all as we have never been in the final four. We will have to make a deep run in the tournament and then beat either Oklahoma, Kansas or N Carolina. 2nd tier teams are no slouch either. Us, Villanova, Maryland, Iowa, Virginia, Texas A&M, Iowa State, MSU etc. will make it a tough road. We will probably have to get to the Sweet 16/Elite 8 first and then beat probably 2 of these teams to gain the respect that we all think we deserve. Go X

[XUMIOH12]

Providence losing to DePaul doesnt have much effect on Xavier, so i dont really care. When you rely heavily on 1-2 players, that kind of thing happens.

Its true we aren't going to be considered an "elite" team (by majority of media) until we beat one of those top tier or blue blood teams. Aside from Villanova, we wont play any of them until the tournament and hopefully we make it that far to have a chance at making that statement to everyone.

[D-West & PO-Z]

We are really good but I agree that we haven't proven ourselves yet capable of winning it all as we have never been in the final four. We will have to make a deep run in the tournament and then beat either Oklahoma, Kansas or N Carolina. 2nd tier teams are no slouch either. Us, Villanova, Maryland, Iowa, Virginia, Texas A&M, Iowa State, MSU etc. will make it a tough road. We will probably have to get to the Sweet 16/Elite 8 first and then beat probably 2 of these teams to gain the respect that we all think we deserve. Go X

I dont understand this. So if we had a random Xavier team make the final 4 10 years ago then this team this year would somehow be more proven of being able to win it all???

[D-West & PO-Z]

Did you see Kris Dunn Stat line last night? The last few games he looks like anything but a POY candidate. I bet he is leading the BE in air balls! I think he had 2-3 against us last week. Last night he was 5/20 shooting! He looks very frustrated and disinterested with the players around him (except for Bentil). Bet he can't wait for June draft day but the way he is playing he will be sliding down the mock draft. By the way to his credit he did have 8 assists with 2 TO's and 6 boards.

Kris Dunn isnt sliding down any draft boards because his teammates suck. He is a top 5-10 pick and a bad shooting night isnt going to change that, not to mention he isnt getting drafted for his shooting anyway.

On a side note I recently saw 2 drafts that have Ellenson as #7 and #4 in the draft.

[XUFan09]

Let's say Dunn had gone in last year's draft. Even with Bentil, Providence would be fighting for just a tournament spot. Without Bentil, they'd be an NIT team at best. That's the team that surrounds Dunn. Frankly, the talent level of his non-Bentil teammates isn't that different from the talent level of DePaul's players, even if DePaul doesn't actualize that talent on a regular basis.

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[ammtd34]

How does a team prove they are capable of winning the national championship during the season?

[XUMIOH12]

How does a team prove they are capable of winning the national championship during the season?

by being north carolina, kansas, kentucky, louisville, duke or the like

[XUFan09]

by being north carolina, kansas, kentucky, louisville, duke or the like
It's an innate ability, even if none or few of the key players have been part of the previous runs!

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[GreatWhiteNorth]

I guess some of these "elite" teams are judged by the number of 4/5 star recruits they have.

[Xville]

How does a team prove they are capable of winning the national championship during the season?

by beating teams that are considered national championship caliber teams this year...we haven't beaten one yet.

[ammtd34]

by beating teams that are considered national championship caliber teams this year...we haven't beaten one yet.

That just leads to more questions, then. Say Oklahoma is national championship caliber (are they?). Is Iowa State then national championship caliber? What about Northern Iowa since they beat North Carolina and Iowa State? Northern Iowa has proven it can beat high level teams this year. They've also lost to Richmond, Southern Illinois and Indiana State.

I don't think a team has to prove anything in the regular season in order to win a national championship. Play well enough to get a favorable seed in the tournament and then play the games in front of you.

[Xville]

That just leads to more questions, then. Say Oklahoma is national championship caliber (are they?). Is Iowa State then national championship caliber? What about Northern Iowa since they beat North Carolina and Iowa State? Northern Iowa has proven it can beat high level teams this year. They've also lost to Richmond, Southern Illinois and Indiana State.

I don't think a team has to prove anything in the regular season in order to win a national championship. Play well enough to get a favorable seed in the tournament and then play the games in front of you.

Obviously, record and not losing to several crappy teams would be a factor as well. No you don't have to prove anything in the regular season in order to win a National Championship. My point though was that we haven't proven we can beat the kind of teams we would have to beat in order to get to a final four or win a championship. Not saying that we can't or that we won't, just saying that we haven't proven it yet, so I don't understand why people get their panties in a bunch when some "experts" say we may not be national championship caliber...we haven't proven otherwise. Like I said, we have proven to be a damn good team, there is a difference between being a damn good team and a team that can get to the final four and win the whole thing.

[Xavier]

Well, will you name your national championship contenders then? Just want to see who you think has beaten the teams that can get to the final four or win it all. I actually agree that X hasn't really beaten a top tier team....but then I think, how many top tier teams are there? IMO there could be 15 final four caliber teams and Xavier is in that category. There just aren't that many clear cut top tier teams and the field is wide open.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Obviously, record and not losing to several crappy teams would be a factor as well. No you don't have to prove anything in the regular season in order to win a National Championship. My point though was that we haven't proven we can beat the kind of teams we would have to beat in order to get to a final four or win a championship. Not saying that we can't or that we won't, just saying that we haven't proven it yet, so I don't understand why people get their panties in a bunch when some "experts" say we may not be national championship caliber...we haven't proven otherwise. Like I said, we have proven to be a damn good team, there is a difference between being a damn good team and a team that can get to the final four and win the whole thing.

Because in the most recent example where an "expert" named 12 teams other than XU there are numerous teams that he named who also havent beaten "elite" teams and that wasn't his reason given.

If you want to say the only teams who can be considered Final 4/title contenders are teams who have beat other elite teams this year how many teams can you name? What is the cutoff for who is considered an elite team?

We can only beat who is in front of us and we have beaten the crap out of some retty solid teams. We shit the bed against GT at home and @Nova was a pretty unique circumstance that we dont know how it would have turned out without the Ed injury and aftermath, could have been different, could have been the same.

The Nova game at home will be very telling though I agree, we need to take care of them at home. No excuses.

[Xville]

You guys are exhausting. Say we haven't beaten anyone of final four/national championship caliber and it's like I pissed in your cheerios.

Our best win is providence. We are going to have to beat a better team than that to get to the final four and winning a championship. We have not proven we are able to do that yet...mostly because we haven't had the option too as of yet. Other top teams have oklahoma, kansas, iowa, Maryland etc. Again not saying that we cant beat these kinds of teams but in the one chance we had, we got killed under difficult circumstances. Nova at home will be telling...we shall see

[D-West & PO-Z]

You guys are exhausting. Say we haven't beaten anyone of final four/national championship caliber and it's like I pissed in your cheerios.

Our best win is providence. We are going to have to beat a better team than that to get to the final four and winning a championship. We have not proven we are able to do that yet...mostly because we haven't had the option too as of yet. Other top teams have oklahoma, kansas, iowa, Maryland etc. Again not saying that we cant beat these kinds of teams but in the one chance we had, we got killed under difficult circumstances. Nova at home will be telling...we shall see

So 4? How many teams does "etc" count as?

I dont think anyone is acting like you pissed in any cheerios I think we are just asking you to elaborate on this theory of yours that you can only be considered a Final 4 contender if you have beat an elite team this year. How is that exhausting? You must be easily exhausted.

So according to you there are 4 teams who can be considered Final 4/title contenders this year, unless you elaborate on the "etc" because that is usually something someone puts in when they have nothing else to say.

I dont think anyone is arguing that we have beat an elite team and I think we all understand the importance of the Nova game at least with regards to perception of XU. I think we all just wanted you to elaborate on what you were saying, thank you for doing so. 4 teams are contenders, got it.

[xu82]

I'll talk about being a Final Four contender when we're in the Elite Eight. We will get there...if we get there. Win tonight. And then the next one. And so on. I don't see us winning out, so a loss won't make me crazy. I'd like to beat 'Nova at home, but it's not necessary for a run when it counts. I'd rather be X and go farther than expected in the Tournament than be another team with high expectations and an early exit (cough, cough, nova).

[Xville]

So 4? How many teams does "etc" count as?

I dont think anyone is acting like you pissed in any cheerios I think we are just asking you to elaborate on this theory of yours that you can only be considered a Final 4 contender if you have beat an elite team this year. How is that exhausting? You must be easily exhausted.

So according to you there are 4 teams who can be considered Final 4/title contenders this year, unless you elaborate on the "etc" because that is usually something someone puts in when they have nothing else to say.

I dont think anyone is arguing that we have beat an elite team and I think we all understand the importance of the Nova game at least with regards to perception of XU. I think we all just wanted you to elaborate on what you were saying, thank you for doing so. 4 teams are contenders, got it.

Michigan state beat Kansas
Virginia beat nova
Iowa state beat oklahoma and Kansas
UNC beat maryland

There are four more and I'm sure there are a few more but I'm tired of looking.

Again, not saying we can't beat those teams, but we haven't proven that we can, and thus when people point out we may not be national championship contenders I'm not going to whine and cry about it like you have. Because how do you know differently?

Our best win is providence...we have proven we can beat good teams, like them, michigan, usc, Seton hall etc. Not saying we can't beat those top teams this year, but just because I'm a fan of xavier doesn't mean I'm going to blindly say they can. They haven't proven it yet period. End of story.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Michigan state beat Kansas
Virginia beat nova
Iowa state beat oklahoma and Kansas
UNC beat maryland

There are four more and I'm sure there are a few more but I'm tired of looking.

Again, not saying we can't beat those teams, but we haven't proven that we can, and thus when people point out we may not be national championship contenders I'm not going to whine and cry about it like you have. Because how do you know differently?

Our best win is providence...we have proven we can beat good teams, like them, michigan, usc, Seton hall etc. Not saying we can't beat those top teams this year, but just because I'm a fan of xavier doesn't mean I'm going to blindly say they can. They haven't proven it yet period. End of story.

This is hilarious, acting like I am blindly whining. I complained about one guy and it was Lunardi and it was because of two reasons:

1. He named 12 teams as contenders (I think even you would think we are in the top 12 of best teams right now, no?). He included Louisville (pre UNC win) and Oregon.

2. His reason was we are over achieving.

The reasoning especially was ridiculous. At least say something legit like young and inconsistent PG play, that I can live with.

Either way his opinion fine, but dont tell me I cant disagree with it and if I do cal me a whiner.

[Xville]

This is hilarious, acting like I am blindly whining. I complained about one guy and it was Lunardi and it was because of two reasons:

1. He named 12 teams as contenders (I think even you would think we are in the top 12 of best teams right now, no?). He included Louisville (pre UNC win) and Oregon.

2. His reason was we are over achieving.

The reasoning especially was ridiculous. At least say something legit like young and inconsistent PG play, that I can live with.

Either way his opinion fine, but dont tell me I cant disagree with it and if I do cal me a whiner.

I didn't say that lunardis reasoning was correct, I'm just not one to worry about it because we haven't proven otherwise regardless of his reasoning. If you want to complain about it, by all means go ahead that's what the message board is for.

All I was saying is that I can see how the so called experts are saying we may not be championship caliber because there isn't enough evidence yet that we are. As I said our best win is providence...beat nova and some evidence will be there.