Everything old is new again.
It seems like November is still such a long way down the road, but landmarks are starting to tick by as we progress towards the beginning of basketball games being played in earnest. While Xavier’s full schedule won’t be released until the Big East irons out the details of all the conference matchups, we know who, where, and when the Muskies will be playing in the non-conference season.
Richard Pitino will kick off his reign with a home game against Marist on November 3. The Red Foxes won 20 games last year, exactly none of which would have moved the needle on an at-large resume. They finished 273rd in the KenPom, dropped their last 5 and 7 of their last 11, and crashed out in the first round of the MAAC tournament.
The highlight of the non-con is always the Crosstown Shootout, which Xavier will host on Friday, December 5. UC currently holds a one-game winning streak in the matchup; the last time they won two in a row was three decades ago.
The entire non-conference schedule (and season ticket info!) can be found here. We’ll be blowing the dust off the presses here at Banners Central to break down every opponent in the run up to the first season of the Richard Pitino Era at X.