What One Play in Xavier History Would you Change?

[D-West & PO-Z]

If you could change one play in Xavier history, what play would you change?

My buddies and I were discussing this, curious to hear everyone's thoughts.

My initial thought was Anthony Myles 5th foul, however, that doesn't guarantee victory, he could have fouled out 30 secs later.

Then I went to Derrick Brown's foot barely being out of bounds against #1 Pitt. If he is in, X wins that game and goes to the elite 8.

My buddies had some other really good ones that didn't come to my mind right away but were great ones.

How about you?

[muskieindent]

Justin Cage missing that foul shot at Rupp vs OSU in '07. The most painful loss ever.

[94GRAD]

Justin Cage missing that foul shot at Rupp vs OSU in '07. The most painful loss ever.

The Ron Lewis 3 is the play I'd like to have a different outcome.

[D-West & PO-Z]

The Ron Lewis 3 is the play I'd like to have a different outcome.


Justin Cage missing that foul shot at Rupp vs OSU in '07. The most painful loss ever.

Yeah my buddies brought this up but in 2 different ways. You could either change:

-Cage makes FT
-Lewis misses 3
-Ref calls intentional foul

If any of those happen differently X wins that to go to Sweet 16 and takes out #1 OSU and Thad.

[XUMIOH12]

A couple of plays from the end of the tournament game against wisconsin in 2016 come to mind. Prefer not to think about those too hard though lol.

[D-West & PO-Z]

A couple of plays from the end of the tournament game against wisconsin in 2016 come to mind. Prefer not to think about those too hard though lol.

The Koenig 3 is the easy one there and came up in my discussion with friends.

[Xavier]

Probably something in that Pitt game. D brown shoe, I think they hit a huge 3 late. But think that team was best equipped to head to final four over the one that would’ve beat OSU. (Wasn’t pitt the overall number 1 seed too?)

[xukeith]

In 1990 X went to their first Sweet 16. X dominated thhe first half but in 2nd half, Texas blew by X. I wish Gillen, Strong, Hill, and Gladden and Jamal Walker would have altered their game plan in 2nd half.

[GoMuskies]

Probably something in that Pitt game. D brown shoe, I think they hit a huge 3 late. But think that team was best equipped to head to final four over the one that would’ve beat OSU. (Wasn’t pitt the overall number 1 seed too?)

Xavier/Villanova would have been a great game.

There were seemingly seven threes K-State hit every time I thought Xavier finally had them in OT in 2010. Maybe if one of those (probably actually 2 or 3) big shots had missed, we'd have won that one.

[xu82]

This should be FUN!



First thoughts, I am reminded of Derrick Brown’s foot size and Greg Oden being an A-hole.

[Xville]

ugh just bring up every bad xavier basketball memory why dontcha? lol

I think for me it has to be the Xavier-Wisconsin. That Xavier team was imo the most stacked talent wise and X had zero business losing that game. The moment I'll take is Koenig misses the first three to tie it. I think if that doesn't happen, X wins. At least gets to the elite eight with a fighting chance against UNC. I was there which probably makes it even more painful.

The other one I was thinking of was X-K state, but there really isn't a moment that could be switched where X wins....that one hurts as well because opponent wise was the easiest trip to get to a final four with it being butler in the next round.

[paulxu]

Majerus said Oden’s foul was by definition an intentional foul, so Xavier should have maintained possession after Cage’s free throws.

[muskiefan82]

Yeah my buddies brought this up but in 2 different ways. You could either change:

-Cage makes FT
-Lewis misses 3
-Ref calls intentional foul

If any of those happen differently X wins that to go to Sweet 16 and takes out #1 OSU and Thad.

A fourth option. Fouling up 3 instead of letting them take that shot

[D-West & PO-Z]

Xavier/Villanova would have been a great game.

There were seemingly seven threes K-State hit every time I thought Xavier finally had them in OT in 2010. Maybe if one of those (probably actually 2 or 3) big shots had missed, we'd have won that one.

I was trying to think about k-state game but couldn’t come up with one single play to change that would have changed the outcome of the game.

[xubrew]

I'm going to name something that didn't even happen in a game that Xavier played in.

It's been 16 years now, and is long over and done with. But, still to this day, I believe that had this been called a foul (and it WAS a foul!!!), that Xavier goes to the Final Four in 2008. We would have either played Texas A&M or Western Kentucky instead of UCLA, and I think we would have walked right past either one of them...

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XKXj1bWZ61X-EuA4FazCG3mx9c0=/0x4:245x167/920x613/filters:focal(0x4:245x167):format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/30159457/uclax.0.jpg

[bleedXblue]

Justin Cage missing that foul shot at Rupp vs OSU in '07. The most painful loss ever.

the elite 8 game against Duke wasnt more painful? A trip to the Final 4?

[SC in DC]

OK, let the old timers have a moment. Didn't affect the outcome of a game (don't really remember) but it sure changed a career. Pretty sure it was Willie Somerset of Duquesne that ran him over and tore his ACL. Back in the day they didn't have the surgical procedures they do now and he never fully recovered. Bummer, you had to see him to believe what a scorer he was.

[noteggs]

JP’s phantom fourth foul on his clean steal against FSU. Think we had an eleven point lead at the time.

Didn’t see it at the time because was stuck in an airport, whole end of the 2007 OSU NCAAT game. Was getting play by play by wife on cell. Hung up (because trying to get ticket processed) thinking we won only to find out on next call we lost. Couldn’t comprehend at the time…

[Masterofreality]

Justin Cage missing that foul shot at Rupp vs OSU in '07. The most painful loss ever.

This. ^^^

[Blue Blooded-05]

Often overlooked, there was a VERY questionable charge called on Chalmers late in that 2004 Duke game. Even without Myles, the game was tied and X had the ball. Chalmers drove from the top and Chris Duhon drew a charge even though he was clearly moving and Chalmers didn’t extend his arm. Terrible call. Duke then went down and Reddick hit a three that proved to be the dagger.

Btw... that game was TWENTY years ago. Dang

[D-West & PO-Z]

I'm going to name something that didn't even happen in a game that Xavier played in.

It's been 16 years now, and is long over and done with. But, still to this day, I believe that had this been called a foul (and it WAS a foul!!!), that Xavier goes to the Final Four in 2008. We would have either played Texas A&M or Western Kentucky instead of UCLA, and I think we would have walked right past either one of them...

https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XKXj1bWZ61X-EuA4FazCG3mx9c0=/0x4:245x167/920x613/filters:focal(0x4:245x167):format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/30159457/uclax.0.jpg

Along those lines, how about Steve Blake for (defending national champion) Maryland not make the fadeaway buzzer 3 against UNC Wilmington to move onto the 2nd round David West's senior year?

[D-West & PO-Z]

Often overlooked, there was a VERY questionable charge called on Chalmers late in that 2004 Duke game. Even without Myles, the game was tied and X had the ball. Chalmers drove from the top and Chris Duhon drew a charge even though he was clearly moving and Chalmers didn’t extend his arm. Terrible call. Duke then went down and Reddick hit a three that proved to be the dagger.

Btw... that game was TWENTY years ago. Dang

Didn't remember that sequence. Probably blocked it out. I was a senior in high school and was at that game and the game before. Man, we were soooooo close. Ugh.

[nickgyp]

OK, let the old timers have a moment. Didn't affect the outcome of a game (don't really remember) but it sure changed a career. Pretty sure it was Willie Somerset of Duquesne that ran him over and tore his ACL. Back in the day they didn't have the surgical procedures they do now and he never fully recovered. Bummer, you had to see him to believe what a scorer he was.

Referring to one, Steve Thomas. 30 ppg. season. Injury and career over. I was only a kid watching but he was a very special player.

[XUMIOH12]

The Koenig 3 is the easy one there and came up in my discussion with friends.

Yeah that is the obivous one. The "charge" call against Ed right before that would have been a basket plus the foul too. Can't remember the exact scenario, but believe that would have essentially iced the game.

[xubrew]

Often overlooked, there was a VERY questionable charge called on Chalmers late in that 2004 Duke game. Even without Myles, the game was tied and X had the ball. Chalmers drove from the top and Chris Duhon drew a charge even though he was clearly moving and Chalmers didn’t extend his arm. Terrible call. Duke then went down and Reddick hit a three that proved to be the dagger.

Btw... that game was TWENTY years ago. Dang

For sure.

I was right behind the basket and it happened pretty much right in front of me. For a split second I thought we had just hit a shot to go up 2, and that it was an and-1 coming out of the Under 4 timeout. It was a WONDERFUL split second, but....they called it a charge.

At the time, in the moment, this loss was probably the toughest one of them all. At least for me. People will point to the loss to Ohio State, and that's certainly high on the list, but this was an Elite Eight game, it was against Duke, and it was on a level that from the time I was a freshman and had become emotionally invested in the program, we had never been close to. Xavier had certainly been good, but they weren't really nationally relevant. They were sort of like...what...Nevada (maybe??) is now. Good, and in The Dance a fair share of the time, but not high in the rankings and not a game away from the Final Four. And, to be there, and be that close, and to have it end...that was a HUGE downer. You wondered if we'd ever get back there again. Of course, we have, and we've arguably been far more nationally relevant since that game than we really ever were before it, but in that moment I didn't know it would play out that way.

Those three years under Thad Matta were a hell of a run. We broke into the top 25 his first year, and stayed there for the last part of the season, which hadn't happened since I had started following the team. We were in the top ten and a big national program his second year, and although it ended a lot earlier than we wanted it to with that Round of 32 loss to Maryland, the season up until that point was incredible, and the next year we almost made the Final Four. That's my favorite period ever of Xavier basketball. A lot of that is admittedly for selfish reasons. I was in my early 20s, which was a great time of my life in general. I was still living in Cincinnati and could still get to all the games, which was great. I mean...it was great! And...yeah, that loss to Duke...I wish we'd had pulled it out.

[GoMuskies]

You wondered if we'd ever get back there again.

Arguably, we haven't been back. We were tied at the under 4 minute timeout. We were right there. UCLA and Gonzaga absolutely embarrassed us in our other two Elite Eight visits.

[drudy23]

I'm sure there are several in the Duke Elite 8 game that could have turned the tide to a W.

We were right there. What a run.

[xubrew]

Arguably, we haven't been back. We were tied at the under 4 minute timeout. We were right there. UCLA and Gonzaga absolutely embarrassed us in our other two Elite Eight visits.

True. But, for me, I went from thinking X may never be back to now thinking they can get back there, and some day we will get there. They've earned protected seeds. The've even earned a #1 seed. And they've been back to the Elite Eight. Xavier is no longer what Nevada is today. It wasn't the Davidson Elite Eight run in 2008 where they were way beyond where they had ever been and way beyond where they would ever get to again. Xavier is on a level now to where they can expect to get back there.

and I STILL think that in 2008 X gets to the Final Four if they call that foul on UCLA against Texas A&M.

[Xville]

For me, the duke loss sucked. It was my senior year. Friends and I had driven down there and then had to drive back after the loss to get to class/internship the next day. However, that run was so incredible, that I was more appreciative of it, than the gut punch that was the Wisconsin, K State and Ohio state games were.

[muskiefan82]

The play that injured Darnell Williams in the NIT All Star game. He was never the same and that group was special

[D-West & PO-Z]

Losing the K-State game sucked but wasn't the gut punch type game OSU and Wisconsin were for me. Felt like we gave it all we could and just came up short.

OSU and Wisconsin were ours and we let them get away.

[D-West & PO-Z]

The play that injured Darnell Williams in the NIT All Star game. He was never the same and that group was special

Man, seriously, what could have been for Darnell. He was special. My first ever favorite Xavier player.

[xubrew]

Losing the K-State game sucked but wasn't the gut punch type game OSU and Wisconsin were for me. Felt like we gave it all we could and just came up short.

OSU and Wisconsin were ours and we let them get away.

If there is one other thing I could change in Xavier history, it would have been to be paired with anyone other than that Wisconsin team. Wisky was a 7 seed that year. I remember thinking I would rather be playing anyone else on the 7 line, or the 6 line, or even the 5 line other than them. X would have walked into the Elite Eight THAT year had played virtually anyone else.

[94GRAD]

Along those lines, how about Steve Blake for (defending national champion) Maryland not make the fadeaway buzzer 3 against UNC Wilmington to move onto the 2nd round David West's senior year?

Wasn't it Drew Nicholas making the shot? Whomever it was, I was at the game and turned to my friend and said that's not good.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Wasn't it Drew Nicholas making the shot? Whomever it was, I was at the game and turned to my friend and said that's not good.

Yes, you are correct, it was Drew Nicholas. That Maryland team was a damn good 6 seed. I knew that was trouble as well.

[xubrew]

Wasn't it Drew Nicholas making the shot? Whomever it was, I was at the game and turned to my friend and said that's not good.

I very seriously doubt UNC Wilmington would have beaten us in the Round of 32, but that was a good team and it sucked infinitely more for them. They were good enough to where they deserved to get their moment.

[webxu]

Does coaching change count as one play? If Papa John had thicker skin at that Xmas party, Pitino stays in the Ville and Mack stays with us ( at least for a bit) granted we are in good hands now, but Mack leaving killed our trajectory, had he stayed, coming off a 1 seed, who knows where wed be now.

As far bball, it has to be JP's "fouls" vs FSU. He was the best player on the floor that game, and i truly believe Nova and X were the 2 best teams in the country that year.

[drudy23]

but Mack leaving killed our trajectory

Don't remind me.

[Xville]

Does coaching change count as one play? If Papa John had thicker skin at that Xmas party, Pitino stays in the Ville and Mack stays with us ( at least for a bit) granted we are in good hands now, but Mack leaving killed our trajectory, had he stayed, coming off a 1 seed, who knows where wed be now.

As far bball, it has to be JP's "fouls" vs FSU. He was the best player on the floor that game, and i truly believe Nova and X were the 2 best teams in the country that year.

Well if we are going to do that, I'll take Xavier joining the Big East five years quicker and Miller never leaving. I'm certain we would have a couple of final fours by now.

[GoMuskies]

I'm certain we would have a couple of final fours by now.

Please don't take this as a shot at Miller. It's not. But Miller was the head coach at Arizona for 12 seasons and has never been to a Final Four. I think we'd have had a good shot to get to one with Miller at the helm the whole time, but I have a hard time being CERTAIN that he'd have taken us to one when he never could get Arizona there.

[Xville]

Please don't take this as a shot at Miller. It's not. But Miller was the head coach at Arizona for 12 seasons and has never been to a Final Four. I think we'd have had a good shot to get to one with Miller at the helm the whole time, but I have a hard time being CERTAIN that he'd have taken us to one when he never could get Arizona there.

That's fair. I think though that if Miller stays, that 2009-2010 team could have won the whole damn thing, because D Brown most likely stays (at least miller believes he would have stayed.)

[X Matters]

I would give some consideration to the 1988 NCAA Tournament game when Byron Larkin went down with a pulled muscle and was ineffective for the remainder of the game. A deeper run in the tournament may have sped up program's development.

[cutterX]

Haven’t read through this thread so apologies if it’s already on here but the non intentional foul call against Cage in OSU tourney game.
I just think that may have propelled them and the program to new heights had they won that game!

[Smooth]

Xavier vs West Virginia in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. At some point late in the game a Xavier player drove the lane and was mugged without a foul being called. I got pissed at the refs and kicked a hole in my wall (less than a year after I bought the house). BJ Raymond helped X win that game but I was on my own fixing my wall.

[Smooth]

January 31, 1990. After Jamal Walker hit the 3 with 7 seconds left a friend went to hug me and missed. He hit me in the stomach where I had shingles. I was so f-ed up on pain pills and alcohol that I couldn't spell my name but that still hurt like hell. I wouldn't change the play, just what happened afterwards.

[bobbiemcgee]

Phantom fouls on A Myles elite 8 vs Duke 2004 I believe. Cost us he game.

[MHettel]

Haven’t read through this thread so apologies if it’s already on here but the non intentional foul call against Cage in OSU tourney game.
I just think that may have propelled them and the program to new heights had they won that game!

I HATED the talking heads after the game.

They said the intentional foul on oden should NOT be called because he was just a freshman that did a freshman thing and that shouldn’t impact the outcome of the game.

Then I’m the next sentence they applaud Ron Lewis for making the kind of shot that a Senior makes.

Like what the fuck? You can’t lose due to the actions of a freshman, but you deserve to win due to the actions of a senior?

If fucking furious right now, and about to board a plane. Keep an eye on the news for the next few hours…

[MHettel]

Here is one that won’t get a lot of press….

Watch the last possession of that notorious game at Butler with the clock issue.

Jordan Crawford watches the last few seconds go by while he is face down out of bounds literally watching the play.

In the meantime, Gordon Hayward makes the hustle play of a lifetime and they steal that win from us.

One guy flamed out in the NBA despite having elite level talent.

The other guy has made probably 100m and carved out close to 15 years in the league.

Can you guess which guy is which?

[Xavier]

That’s the play that comes to mind? A meaningless regular season game at Butler? Lol my goodness.

Also laughable to suggest Hayward was a hustle guy and not an elite level talent. He was much more talented than JC, as much as I love JC.

[D-West & PO-Z]

That’s the play that comes to mind? A meaningless regular season game at Butler? Lol my goodness.

Also laughable to suggest Hayward was a hustle guy and not an elite level talent. He was much more talented than JC, as much as I love JC.

+1

[muskieindent]

Yeah my buddies brought this up but in 2 different ways. You could either change:

-Cage makes FT
-Lewis misses 3
-Ref calls intentional foul

If any of those happen differently X wins that to go to Sweet 16 and takes out #1 OSU and Thad.

Yes all 3 of those I'd like to change Oden slamming Cage into the basket should have been intentional foul game over!
The Kansas St game was a tough one to lose too but that game was so incredible it sort of eases the pain.

[Cincypunk.org]

Does coaching change count as one play? If Papa John had thicker skin at that Xmas party, Pitino stays in the Ville and Mack stays with us ( at least for a bit) granted we are in good hands now, but Mack leaving killed our trajectory, had he stayed, coming off a 1 seed, who knows where wed be now.

As far bball, it has to be JP's "fouls" vs FSU. He was the best player on the floor that game, and i truly believe Nova and X were the 2 best teams in the country that year.

What’s the Pitino vs. Papa John story?

[xubrew]

Here is one that won’t get a lot of press….

Watch the last possession of that notorious game at Butler with the clock issue.

Jordan Crawford watches the last few seconds go by while he is face down out of bounds literally watching the play.

In the meantime, Gordon Hayward makes the hustle play of a lifetime and they steal that win from us.

One guy flamed out in the NBA despite having elite level talent.

The other guy has made probably 100m and carved out close to 15 years in the league.

Can you guess which guy is which?

The reason this one doesn't stick in my craw as much as it should is because I didn't see it live. I was on some sort of road trip and had recorded it with the intent of watching it before knowing the result, but like everyone else my phone absolutely exploded and that's how I found out what happened. It was probably the most poorly administered end of a game I have ever seen. Something that no one really asked was what the hell the timekeeper was doing during the timeouts if he didn't have a stopwatch. I can only assume he was counting to himself. My guess is he either forgot it or was not supplied with it, and didn't have time to go get it before the game, so he just did the best he could.

Oh well. I was once at a baseball game where the home team forgot the baseballs. I guess that's worse than forgetting the stopwatch.

But...whatever. It was a regular season game that by the season ended didn't seem to move the needle THAT much. There was another game after this. For a question like this, I'll almost always think of something that happened in an NCAA Tournament game because you don't get to play in another game after that.

[xubrew]

Boy, such GREAT memories!! Yay this thread!!

[webxu]

What’s the Pitino vs. Papa John story?

From my sources connected with Louisville boosters, evidently Pitino didnt want to speak with Papa John ( at the time on the board at Ville) and he was irate at being "big timed" so he wanted Pitino gone after that.. I would have to suspect there is more to that story but thats all I have.. and the rest is history.

[xubrew]

From my sources connected with Louisville boosters, evidently Pitino didnt want to speak with Papa John ( at the time on the board at Ville) and he was irate at being "big timed" so he wanted Pitino gone after that.. I would have to suspect there is more to that story but thats all I have.. and the rest is history.

Well, they were being investigated by the FBI, and they were rather egregiously in violation of multiple NCAA rules that resulted in penalties that they have obviously not yet been able to recover from. There was that. That could have had SOMETHING to do with why he was let go.

[Xville]

From my sources connected with Louisville boosters, evidently Pitino didnt want to speak with Papa John ( at the time on the board at Ville) and he was irate at being "big timed" so he wanted Pitino gone after that.. I would have to suspect there is more to that story but thats all I have.. and the rest is history.

So, my boss is a really good friend of Jurich's (former AD for those who didn't know.) Like, they have houses in Florida that are in the same neighborhood. Anyways, without going too much down the rabbit hole..Papa John is an ass, always has been, always will be, and in my view he got what he deserved karma wise even though that whole incident was ridiculous and is a separate topic.

Anyways, what you said above is accurate. One example, Papa got his panties in a wad because Pitino was listening in and going to Board of Trustee meetings. There's more to it, but that's just one illustration. Two guys with massive egos, one of them being a dick (Papa), but Papa got to use the numerous infractions to get the better of Ricky P. Went to Jurich to tell him you need to fire him, Jurich refused, and so they both got canned.

[Xville]

Well, they were being investigated by the FBI, and they were rather egregiously in violation of multiple NCAA rules that resulted in penalties that they have obviously not yet been able to recover from. There was that. That could have had SOMETHING to do with why he was let go.

Part of it of course, but lets be honest Louisville and Arizona were not the only ones in that whole mess, but they are the ones who lost coaches.

[paulxu]

I wonder with the new rules if you can pay NIL with a hooker?

[BigMoeMusketeer]

Fat LaVance Fields misses the three in Boston in 2009.

[xubrew]

Part of it of course, but lets be honest Louisville and Arizona were not the only ones in that whole mess, but they are the ones who lost coaches.

Don't forget LSU.

[Blue Blooded-05]

For sure.

I was right behind the basket and it happened pretty much right in front of me. For a split second I thought we had just hit a shot to go up 2, and that it was an and-1 coming out of the Under 4 timeout. It was a WONDERFUL split second, but....they called it a charge.

At the time, in the moment, this loss was probably the toughest one of them all. At least for me. People will point to the loss to Ohio State, and that's certainly high on the list, but this was an Elite Eight game, it was against Duke, and it was on a level that from the time I was a freshman and had become emotionally invested in the program, we had never been close to. Xavier had certainly been good, but they weren't really nationally relevant. They were sort of like...what...Nevada (maybe??) is now. Good, and in The Dance a fair share of the time, but not high in the rankings and not a game away from the Final Four. And, to be there, and be that close, and to have it end...that was a HUGE downer. You wondered if we'd ever get back there again. Of course, we have, and we've arguably been far more nationally relevant since that game than we really ever were before it, but in that moment I didn't know it would play out that way.

Those three years under Thad Matta were a hell of a run. We broke into the top 25 his first year, and stayed there for the last part of the season, which hadn't happened since I had started following the team. We were in the top ten and a big national program his second year, and although it ended a lot earlier than we wanted it to with that Round of 32 loss to Maryland, the season up until that point was incredible, and the next year we almost made the Final Four. That's my favorite period ever of Xavier basketball. A lot of that is admittedly for selfish reasons. I was in my early 20s, which was a great time of my life in general. I was still living in Cincinnati and could still get to all the games, which was great. I mean...it was great! And...yeah, that loss to Duke...I wish we'd had pulled it out.

We were in the same student section. That was my junior year.

That 3 week stretch from the start of the A10 Tournament through the Duke loss were probably my favorite 3 weeks of college. 4 games in 4 days. Demolishing St. Joes. Rushing UD’s home floor after beating them in the finals. Coming back against Louisville. Shooting lights out vs Miss St. The entire campus shutting down and relocating to Atlanta. Finding a hotel with free happy hour. The epic Texas game. More free happy hour. It all went perfectly until the 2nd half of the Duke game... and we still had a shot at the end.

[D-West & PO-Z]

We were in the same student section. That was my junior year.

That 3 week stretch from the start of the A10 Tournament through the Duke loss were probably my favorite 3 weeks of college. 4 games in 4 days. Demolishing St. Joes. Rushing UD’s home floor after beating them in the finals. Coming back against Louisville. Shooting lights out vs Miss St. The entire campus shutting down and relocating to Atlanta. Finding a hotel with free happy hour. The epic Texas game. More free happy hour. It all went perfectly until the 2nd half of the Duke game... and we still had a shot at the end.

That tournament run was so special. Probably my favorite ever as an X fan, mostly due to it being the first really deep run (2nd sweet 16 I know but I wasn't old enough to remember the 1st).

Beating an underseeded Pitino Louisville team, playing Miss State again but beating them this time, sending Rick Barnes to the shower early, and almost beating the premier team in college basketball to get to a final 4.

Almost lost my job at Hollywood Video before I even started as I was supposed to start that weekend of the games in Atlanta but my family went and I wasn't going to miss that.

Great memories.

[Xavier]

The thing that sucks about threads like these is you think back about how many teams X has had that could’ve been a F4 team. It’s almost crazy one of those teams hasn’t made a run.

I’ve said it before. When X does make a run to the F4 it will be the first and only time I’ll cry in enjoyment from a sports team.

[webxu]

The thing that sucks about threads like these is you think back about how many teams X has had that could’ve been a F4 team. It’s almost crazy one of those teams hasn’t made a run.

I’ve said it before. When X does make a run to the F4 it will be the first and only time I’ll cry in enjoyment from a sports team.

All those amazing teams never broke through.. wouldn't it be funny if this team makes it in and is the one to break through. I would of course be elated but it would still be a little funny.

[JTG]

All those amazing teams never broke through.. wouldn't it be funny if this team makes it in and is the one to break through. I would of course be elated but it would still be a little funny.

Funny? Try insane! Although those Butler F4 teams, weren't that talented except for Haywood.

[GoMuskies]

All those amazing teams never broke through.. wouldn't it be funny if this team makes it in and is the one to break through. I would of course be elated but it would still be a little funny.

The Elite Eight team that Gonzaga spanked wasn't very good until March. I mean, we were an 11 seed. So I guess it could happen.

[MHettel]

The Elite Eight team that Gonzaga spanked wasn't very good until March. I mean, we were an 11 seed. So I guess it could happen.

That team was pre-season ranked #7. Sumner got injured in the 1st minute of the 22nd game and they still managed to win that one against DePaul. They then proceeeded to go on a 6 game losing streak and won the last regular season game, which was also DePaul.

They won their first BET game against....DePaul. So basically, without Sumner, they were 3-6 with all tyhe wins against...DePaul.

We beat Butler who was ranked 18th, which probably got us BACK into the tourney. Lost the next BET game against Creighton.

Once Goodin settled in and roles were adjusted from losing 15 PPG from Sumner, we got hot and made the E8.

I think that team was GOOD. In fact VERY good. That was always a "what if" situation with Sumner....

[GoMuskies]

Fair enough. They were actually great, and then terrible, and then really good. In fact not at all similar to this year's team.

[D-West & PO-Z]

That team was pre-season ranked #7. Sumner got injured in the 1st minute of the 22nd game and they still managed to win that one against DePaul. They then proceeeded to go on a 6 game losing streak and won the last regular season game, which was also DePaul.

They won their first BET game against....DePaul. So basically, without Sumner, they were 3-6 with all tyhe wins against...DePaul.

We beat Butler who was ranked 18th, which probably got us BACK into the tourney. Lost the next BET game against Creighton.

Once Goodin settled in and roles were adjusted from losing 15 PPG from Sumner, we got hot and made the E8.

I think that team was GOOD. In fact VERY good. That was always a "what if" situation with Sumner....

Sumner got hurt against St. Johns actually. He played 29 mins, not sure when he got hurt but wasn't the 1st min.

Xavier won the next 3 in a row after that including beating ranked Creighton on the road then they lost 6 in a row. X went 6-7 without Ed (including BE tourney but not NCAA tourney).

I agree with your overall point though. That team was very talented with one of the best duos in X history.

[webxu]

If I am recalling correctly I believe Blueitt went down with a sprained ankle and was out a couple games after after Ed went down also.

[D-West & PO-Z]

If I am recalling correctly I believe Blueitt went down with a sprained ankle and was out a couple games after after Ed went down also.

Correct. The 1st game of the 6 game losing streak was against Nova and Tre only played 19 mins that game and had to come out after hurting his ankle.

Tre did not play the next 2 games. He was back for losses 4, 5, and 6 but clearly was limited.

That 6 game losing streak had to do more with Tre's injury than Sumner's, especially considering Xavier won the 1st 3 games after Sumner's injury.

[MHettel]

Sumner got hurt against St. Johns actually. He played 29 mins, not sure when he got hurt but wasn't the 1st min.

Xavier won the next 3 in a row after that including beating ranked Creighton on the road then they lost 6 in a row. X went 6-7 without Ed (including BE tourney but not NCAA tourney).

I agree with your overall point though. That team was very talented with one of the best duos in X history.

very weird. my source was sports reference .com and it has his game log. Shows 1 minute against DePaul. Prior game to that was in fact St. Johns.

BUT, now I just noticed that the DePaul game was supposedly on March 4, which makes NO sense.

Nonethe less that team had FF potential, and maybe overachieved with the E8 without Sumner...

[Xville]

When was it then that Villanova tried to decapitate Sumner? Was that the year before? I could have sworn he missed some games after that, but now I think maybe he didn't? Those three years are pretty blurry for me...probably trying to block out those early tourney losses as much as possible lol

[xuphan]

the elite 8 game against Duke wasnt more painful? A trip to the Final 4?

This was the most painful game in my years of watching. Still to do this day feel like we got screwed by the officials for some questionable fouls that caused Myles to be in foul trouble. Think we could have beat Duke if not for the officials.

[D-West & PO-Z]

When was it then that Villanova tried to decapitate Sumner? Was that the year before? I could have sworn he missed some games after that, but now I think maybe he didn't? Those three years are pretty blurry for me...probably trying to block out those early tourney losses as much as possible lol

Yeah, the year before. He missed the next 3 games.

[Muskie in dayton]

The play they made to hire Travis Steele.

[D-West & PO-Z]

The play they made to hire Travis Steele.

I keep thinking the 4 years of Steele is worth it in the long run to have Miller back.

I find it hard to believe that anyone else we would have hired would have been of the caliber that Miller is and as long as Miller doesn’t leave again (or at least stays a long while until he does) I think the Steele disaster was worth it in the long run since it brought Miller back.

[kane79]

the play where chris mack blew out his knee (as a player, not coach). If he never blew out his knew, he wouldn't have met his wife while rehabbing. they never get married then. she doesn't get him to leave to go to lousiville. We then never end up hiring steele as HC.