Banners On The Parkway

Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images The bubble situation could not be more clear: if Xavier wins this one, they’re in. Well. A season that tipped off five months ago has come to the pointy end, and the whole operation for Xavier could very well come down to these 40 minutes. The injuries, the slow start, the strong finish... it’s all been prologue to whatever story these two … [Read more...] about Xavier v. Marquette: Big East Tournament preview, matchups, keys to the game

West Ham have some work to do to make the NCAA Tournament | Photo by Harry Murphy - Danehouse/Getty Images Almost everyone on the bubble is in action today. Here is who needs to take care of business to get in and who can keep their hopes alive if someone slips up. Three teams from yesterday’s edition who will not be appearing today are Arkansas, Cincinnati, and Ohio … [Read more...] about Bubble Watch: Championship Week Thursday

Get it? Because it’s a bubble? | Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images Once again, we’re in a situation where this matters. Five years ago today, the world stopped. It was an utterly incomprehensible turn of events. The Big East tournament stopped mid-game, Travis Steele was denied his first bid to the NCAA tournament, and soon sports functionally stopped. … [Read more...] about Bubble Watch: Major conference tournament edition

Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Brad: I’m a huge Dante Maddox guy so I may be biased here, but did he change this game today? Freemantle and Conwell were excellent, but Dante somehow quietly racked up seven assists and no turnovers and brought his special brand of energy. Joel: Well... he played 17 minutes and Xavier was +11 with him on the … [Read more...] about Sunday Conversation: Gearing up for the BET

Brad Penner-Imagn Images The best conference tournament in college basketball kicks off Wednesday. We tend to focus on Xavier here. That is, after all, what our reason for existence is. Starting this week, though, college basketball tips over the top of the hill and starts a down hill sprint to the Final Four. It’s worth taking a quick breath here at the start to see … [Read more...] about Big East Tournament Preview