A Long Time Coming

[Snipe]

I have been thinking about today's game ever since they put it on the schedule. When I first got my season tickets in the mail, my eyes were instantly drawn to this date.

The Big East is a great conference. We have never won it. We are still seeking our first Big East Championship. Villanova has won this conference every year since we have joined.

Villanova is the best team in nation in my opinion.

Over the past five years and their national title, no program has been ranked higher and ranked more consistently than Villanova. They are talented, they are well coached. They always seem to have their spacing, cadence, timing, passing and shooting down to an art form. They don't have any weaknesses. They are a machine, and a machine that usually rips us apart by 20+ points.

Speaking of blowouts, the deer-in-the-headlights 89-65 beating they gave us in Philly this year is about the closest thing to rape that you will find on a basketball court. It is like they blow the whistle and toss the ball up and we just lay down, spread em and ask Nova to please be gentle. It was disgusting to have to go through that again. It is a recurring nightmare. If there is a hell for the Snipeman's eternal damnation, I bet it is groundhog day there and I wake up and we are playing at Nova again.

I am not just sick and tired, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I am sick of singing their praises.

There is only one way to make this right. If we want to be the best, we are gonna have to beat the best. No way around it, we have to punch our way right through it.

The Xavier Way is about being a Champion. Today we throw off the yoke of tyranny and domination. Today we beat them, and take a 2.5 game lead in the standings with 3 games to play (a fait accompli). Today is a day for Champions.

Our tremendous Senior class will then graduate as Champions, with Xavier back in its rightful place. Tre & JP and crew can restore our honor, dignity and our natural seat above the rest. What a great gift for Senior night. Two games left at home for these young men, and today promises to be one of the loudest crowds in school history.

There will be a new Sheriff in town. It will be our first Big East Championship, and it will not be our last.

And it has been a long time coming.

[muskiefan82]

If you want to win the BEast, you have to beat the beast.

[KabeX]

Beating the Beast is the path to becoming THE BEAST!

[UCGRAD4X]

I'll tell you what I'm sick and tired of...I'm sick and tired of wearing my Elite 8 shirts.

"Is that all you got?"

As great as those accomplishments were (and continue to be) I want so much more.

I'm almost embarrassed. Is that the best we can do?

A Big East Championship shirt would be a good start.

LET'S RIDE!!!

[GIMMFD]

Finally. Needed this Snipe!! Today we ride, we are going to curb stomp Nova, and we're going to put a strangle hold on the Big East. This is the start of knocking down that damn wall and riding it to the Final 4. RAISE YOUR SWORDS

[GoMuskies]

I'll tell you what I'm sick and tired of...I'm sick and tired of wearing my Elite 8 shirts.


Why aren't you wearing your Final Five shirt?

[IM4X]

If you want to win the BEast, you have to beat the beast.

It helps when the Beast is missing some teeth.

Villanova easily dispatched Xavier in the first meeting this season, an 89-65 drubbing at the Wells Fargo Center back on Jan. 10. Wildcats guard Phil Booth (http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/player/_/id/3147656/phil-booth) scored a game-high 21 points in the contest but won't play Saturday because of a bone fracture.

[Snipe]

Groundhog Day again. I am glad to be just 14 down. Jesus Nova knows how to humble me. Bastards.

Make it stop

[stammina0721]

Nova is down players and in foul trouble. When it matters all the stars were aligned to finally not just beat these guys but take the Big East. Then Tyrique and Gates struck. Down three Tyreke gets the ball in the low block for a bunny. He misses and we not only get a foul but also a double tech. Hit that bunny We are down 1 with them.o the ropes. Instead We go missed lay up, unforced turnover by gates travel on Tyreke. Instantly back down by 9. We are UD of this league and I'm sick of it.

[ArizonaXUGrad]

Chill with the Dayton crap. Calm down, when wright loses in the 2nd round again and we get an Elite 8 you will eat those words.


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[throwbackmuskie]

We are UD of this league and I'm sick of it.

Do us all a favor and ban yourself


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[OTRMUSKIE]

UD of this league? GFYS. You can say Xavier is to nova what VD is to X in terms of pure domination but We are not like VD in any way. We both have uniforms that’s the closest we are to each other. I demand a 2 day suspension to this poster for saying such sac religious things. DILLY DILLY!!

[Snipe]

Well that snaps a 9 game win streak. Boy did that hurt.

I think we will have our hands full with trying to win the three games left on our schedule. If we can do that we can share the Big East title. It isn't what I wanted but it isn't the worst of all worlds. Had someone offered it at the beginning of the year I would have taken it right then.

In one month it will be the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. We have a ways to go in that one month. It was a bad day but a season is a lifetime.

This team still has time to come together and fit more flawlessly. A tip of the cap to Nova I guess, they do know how to exploit weaknesses.

We had it going in the second half and I felt I was watching something magic. The place was rocking. Then it all went to dust.

Great thing about this league is you don't have time to mope, it is on to a hungry Georgetown team that gave us all we could take at home. We need to get better, and now is the time. Players have grown and taken strides. Tre is already in March Mode right now, love the way he is playing. We have to start putting together complete games and no time is better than right now.

And since the winning streak is now gone, I have to say those 9 games were impressive to string together. We still have a shot at the title and those 9 games are why. Don't let the last game get in the way of the next game. We still have a hell of ways to go.

F Nova. They drive me raving mad.

[94GRAD]

Nova is down players and in foul trouble. When it matters all the stars were aligned to finally not just beat these guys but take the Big East. Then Tyrique and Gates struck. Down three Tyreke gets the ball in the low block for a bunny. He misses and we not only get a foul but also a double tech. Hit that bunny We are down 1 with them.o the ropes. Instead We go missed lay up, unforced turnover by gates travel on Tyreke. Instantly back down by 9. We are UD of this league and I'm sick of it.

Either be a fan of another team or stop posting here!!!

[muethibp]

The point can be made without reference to UD but the following is not factually incorrect at all: “X is a good team and has been for a few years but can’t get past a clearly superior team in the league, and some Xavier fans find it maddening. At points in the past (certainly not now!), UD had good teams by objective measures but could not get past Xavier, and UD fans found it maddening.”

[chico]

Nova is down players and in foul trouble. When it matters all the stars were aligned to finally not just beat these guys but take the Big East. Then Tyrique and Gates struck. Down three Tyreke gets the ball in the low block for a bunny. He misses and we not only get a foul but also a double tech. Hit that bunny We are down 1 with them.o the ropes. Instead We go missed lay up, unforced turnover by gates travel on Tyreke. Instantly back down by 9. We are UD of this league and I'm sick of it.

Not to pile on, but that's just a ridiculous comment. Villanova may have our number but look at what this program has accomplished over the past, oh I don't know, 30 years and then re-read your post.

The double tech certainly stopped our momentum and helped Nova get their bearings again, but they are a damn good team, especially when they shoot the way they did yesterday. A bunch of those 3's they hit were contested shots. Mack allied to it post-game, as well as the fact that they're the type of team that will exploit any lapse you may have. They aren't a top 5 team for nothing.

Honestly, I hope we meet them in the Big East finals. I'd really like to see us play them again, and my guess is if our guys are half the competitors we think they are, they'd want nothing more than another shot at them as well.

[chico]

The point can be made without reference to UD but the following is not factually incorrect at all: “X is a good team and has been for a few years but can’t get past a clearly superior team in the league, and some Xavier fans find it maddening. At points in the past (certainly not now!), UD had good teams by objective measures but could not get past Xavier, and UD fans found it maddening.”

The difference there is the word "some," even with this very narrow analogy. Pretty much the entire UD fan base hates our program and extremely jealous of what we have. I don't think you can even begin to say the same about our fans. I don't think I'll ever see our fans openly rooting against Villanova. In fact, most people on here were ecstatic when Nova won the national championship. Actually, I wouldn't even use the word "some" - more like a handful.

[OTRMUSKIE]

I like Nova, I wish them luck. VD I wish them nothing but awfulness even
To this day.

[Xville]

Some of you really need to chill out about stamina comparing us to ud...i really doubt he meant our fans are like theirs, or the way we feel about Villanova. It's much more of us getting our asses kicked almost every game against nova just like we did against dayton. Nova is the elite, just as x was the elite in the a10 and our place in the big east is much like what Dayton's was in the a10. It's really not that far off a comparison from that standpoint. I'm really fucking sick of getting killed by nova every game.

[muethibp]

All fair enough. That said, UD fans grew to hate us in part because Xavier fans rubbed their lack of success to Dayton (president pictures, Jimmy Carter chants). Nova doesn’t do that to us in part because the rivalry hasn’t had time to develop and because Xavier hasn’t been competitive enough to even call it a rivalry.

[xudash]

Nova is down players and in foul trouble. When it matters all the stars were aligned to finally not just beat these guys but take the Big East. Then Tyrique and Gates struck. Down three Tyreke gets the ball in the low block for a bunny. He misses and we not only get a foul but also a double tech. Hit that bunny We are down 1 with them.o the ropes. Instead We go missed lay up, unforced turnover by gates travel on Tyreke. Instantly back down by 9. We are UD of this league and I'm sick of it.

Wow. I hope you're calmer now.

That isn't even close to reality.

[stammina0721]

Some of you really need to chill out about stamina comparing us to ud...i really doubt he meant our fans are like theirs, or the way we feel about Villanova. It's much more of us getting our asses kicked almost every game against nova just like we did against dayton. Nova is the elite, just as x was the elite in the a10 and our place in the big east is much like what Dayton's was in the a10. It's really not that far off a comparison from that standpoint. I'm really fucking sick of getting killed by nova every game.

This 100%. At least someone understands the comparison.

[chico]

All fair enough. That said, UD fans grew to hate us in part because Xavier fans rubbed their lack of success to Dayton (president pictures, Jimmy Carter chants). Nova doesn’t do that to us in part because the rivalry hasn’t had time to develop and because Xavier hasn’t been competitive enough to even call it a rivalry.

That cuts both ways. I believe the "you can't win here" chant they used to employ was done prior to the Jimmy Carter chants. There's also the little thing about Dayton leaving the MCC for the Great Midwest and everything that surrounded that move.

In any event, I really have a hard time believing that any rivalry between us and Nova that may develop will have the same vitriol as our old rivalry with UD.

[XU 87]

That cuts both ways. I believe the "you can't win here" chant they used to employ was done prior to the Jimmy Carter chants. There's also the little thing about Dayton leaving the MCC for the Great Midwest and everything that surrounded that move.

In any event, I really have a hard time believing that any rivalry between us and Nova that may develop will have the same vitriol as our old rivalry with UD.

I would add one more thing that added to the rivalry- The UD fans acted like A-holes at the XU-UD games at UD.

[Irishjohn68]

I just don't understand how we can look this bad against one team all the time. Nova is beatable, but we wet the bed every time we face them.

[XU 87]

I just don't understand how we can look this bad against one team all the time. Nova is beatable, but we wet the bed every time we face them.

I personally thought X played fairly well yesterday. Villanova just played great, especially in the first half. It wasn't like Nova had a bunch of wide open threes in the first half. Most were contested, and they still made them.

[OTRMUSKIE]

It’s taken a little longer to become the flagship but it’s going to happen, it’s inevitable. Nova is just so well coached and are very disciplined. They have possibly 4 NBA’ers on that team. X does have 3, maybe. Eventually Nova will cool,down a bit and X will take the crown but damn this nova team is just sooooo damn good. At least they were for 40 mins yesterday.

[stammina0721]

Despite our inability to take down the top dog in this conference I still don't see how some people say we need to make the championship game to get a one seed. Everyone else is losing more than X. I think X could lose another game and still comfortably be on the one line. Purdue, Kansas, Ohio State, Texas Tech, UC, Clemson are all losing or have lost. In my mind the only worry is Duke. But in my mind X could lose one of these last three and Duke would have to won out including the ACC tournament to pass X. The committee has proven one or two weeks are not considered over the entire body of work. Xavier's is just better than a majority of teams vying for a one seed

[muskieindent]

It’s taken a little longer to become the flagship but it’s going to happen, it’s inevitable. Nova is just so well coached and are very disciplined. They have possibly 4 NBA’ers on that team. X does have 3, maybe. Eventually Nova will cool,down a bit and X will take the crown but damn this nova team is just sooooo damn good. At least they were for 40 mins yesterday.

Unfortunately I don't see Nova dropping down anytime. Bridges probably will leave and maybe Brunson but they just signed a top 25 point guard who decommitted from Arizona.Throw in Spellman (assuming he doesn't go pro) Paschall and Dante,they will be the team to beat again next year

[Xville]

It’s taken a little longer to become the flagship but it’s going to happen, it’s inevitable. Nova is just so well coached and are very disciplined. They have possibly 4 NBA’ers on that team. X does have 3, maybe. Eventually Nova will cool,down a bit and X will take the crown but damn this nova team is just sooooo damn good. At least they were for 40 mins yesterday.

Huh? Nova has maybe two...Xavier may have two if naji and suggs develop.

[letskeepitreal]

Huh? Nova has maybe two...Xavier may have two if naji and suggs develop.

I believe Bridges, Brunson and Spellman have a shot. For X, maybe Tre but not sure and perhaps Naji but it’s too early to tell. Nova just has a really good program and Wright is a really good coach.