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Didn't Xavier Just Win the A-10?? Or Am I Confused???
By
Andy Mac Williams,
2/29/2008
Give me a hand here!! I'm pretty sure the Muskies clinched the Atlantic 10 regular season championship last night (Thursday Feb. 28th) when Saint Louis pulled the upset and dropped Saint Joe's 64-55 on Hawk Hill. Let's review the math. XU's conference record is 12-1. Everybody else in the league has at least 5 losses. It's a 16 game schedule. Ergo - X can't be caught, tied or passed!! My conclusion is that the Muskies are Champs - outright after sharing the title with UMass last season.!!! Congratulations!!
The Enquirer forgot to mention it. Maybe they were confused because XU did not play Thursday night or the clinching came with 3 games remaining in the regular season? Or possibly local media does not consider this a BIG DEAL? After all the Muskies are only rated 9th in AP with a 6 RPI-a 24-4 record and a 10 game winning streak. Where has the coverage been this week?
I'm sure I'm being petty but if UC had wrapped up the Big East title under similar circumstances would that have been completely ignored by the newspaper of record?? I don't think so.
Hey, I'm used to X being treated like a second class citizen in it's own back yard. I've heard those demographic arguments for years. You know the ones: The Bore-cats have more living alumns within a 100 mile radius of Clifton than the population of mainland China, but Muskie faithful amount to a tiny compacent cult so UC deserves more ink and the more powerful radio station etc, etc. That's bull!! This is Xavier's year!! Show me the coverage!!
So what's the Muskies' motivation for the last 3 regular season games?? 24 wins equals the XU record for regular season victories. Why not throw down 27 wins and end any debate about 2007-2008 being the most productive regular season ever on Victory Parkway!!
GW Saturday at Cintas is no gimme. The Colonials have won 4 of 5 including an 85-68 waxing of Rhode Island Wednesday. Young guards Damon Hollis and Noel Wilmore are emerging. They combined for 26 points against URI. Rob Diggs is one of the best inside players in the league. Maurice Rice poured in over 20 against X in DC. GW played hard but lost to Xavier 74-66 back in January at the Smith Center. They have improved and GW has plenty of incentive. They are locked in a 3 way battle with Fordham and Dayton for the final two conference tournament spots. All 3 teams are 5-8. GW has the tie-breaker on UD. Dayton plays at Fordham Saturday.
Xavier closes out the road portion of the schedule next Thursday at St Joe's. The Hawks are on the NCAA bubble and far from a lock for a first round A-10 tourney bye(top 4 finishers get Wednesday March 12th off-Xavier plus 3 of the following - Saint Joe's, La Salle, Richmond, Temple all 8-5 - UMass 7-6, Saint Louis 7-7).
Next Saturday it's Richmond at Cintas on Senior Night. The Spiders zone and run that deliberate Princeton offense and may be fighting for second in the league and a possible NCAA berth. I'd take 2 out of 3 happily with home W's and a tight loss at St Joe's. 3 wins keeps the possiblity of an NCAA "2" seed alive headed into the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
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