Xavier might be the best team in college
basketball. No, really.
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Washington Post , Dec. 21, 2015
In a year of historic firsts, Xavier’s national press, which has only grown more laudatory since December, has been justified.
The Musketeers earned their highest national ranking in school history (No. 5) and spent 13 straight weeks in the AP Top 10. Last week, Xavier coach Chris Mack was awarded the U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Henry Iba Award for the National Coach of the Year, the first Xavier coach to win the honor.
And Sunday night, the Musketeers drew a No. 2 seed in the East Regional, the highest NCAA Tournament seed in school history.
Xavier (27-5) will play No. 15-seed Weber State (26-8), the winner of the Big Sky Conference Tournament, on Friday in St. Louis. The Musketeers and Wildcats will tip off shortly after the conclusion of the 6:50 p.m. Wisconsin vs. Pittsburgh game, around 9:20.
The Musketeers have now made 10 of the last 11 NCAA Tournaments, an accomplishment that puts them on par with just eight other schools, most of them perennial powerhouses. Michigan State, Kansas, Duke, Wisconsin and Gonzaga have made at least 11 straight NCAA Tournaments, while Texas, North Carolina and Villanova have made 10 of the last 11.
“I think where teams mess up is the fact that they try to get comfortable,” junior Myles Davis said after the bracket was unveiled. “We don’t want to be comfortable. We want to be just as hungry as every other team. … We have the experience of going to the Sweet 16 last year, so we know what it takes.”
Last year, No. 6-seed Xavier beat No. 11 Ole Miss and No. 14 Georgia State before falling to No. 2-seed Arizona, 68-60. This year, making the Sweet 16 — and beyond — is almost an expectation.
“We’re all going to lock in, get to work, really focus on the team ahead of us and not look ahead to who we might have to play in the next round,” senior James Farr said. “We want to live in the moment, but also realize what’s at stake. We don’t want to be one of those teams that have our name beside the ‘Upset Alert’ box. Weber State really has nothing to lose. With a 15 seed, they’re just going to go in there and play hard.”
Friday’s meeting will be the first ever between the two teams, which had no opponents in common this season. Weber State, located north of Salt Lake City, is entering the NCAA Tournament with nine wins in its last 10 games, including three straight wins to clinch its conference tournament. Jeremy Senglin (18.2 points per game) and Joel Bolomboy (17.2 points per game) lead the Wildcats’ offense.
Xavier had the 7th-highest RPI in the country and 30th-ranked strength of schedule. In comparison, the Wildcats’ RPI ranked 108th and strength of schedule ranked 288th.
Xavier excelled against its tough schedule, accumulating a 10-3 record against other NCAA Tournament teams, thanks to one of its deepest offenses in recent memory. Four players are averaging double-digit scoring entering the tournament: sophomore Trevon Bluiett (15.5 points per game), redshirt freshman Edmond Sumner (11.3), Davis (11.1) and Farr (10.8). The Musketeers led the Big East in both offensive and defensive rebounds, and outscored their opponents by an average of 10.3 points per game.
Even beyond their success on offense, the Musketeers have a noticeable chemistry on the court.
“It’s been the most enjoyable team to coach,” Mack said. “I do think we’ve been the most cohesive team I’ve ever had, so I think in many ways, it has been the best team that I’ve coached. It’s been a really fun group.”
The Musketeers had a 25-3 record in late February and upset then-No. 1 Villanova 90-83 on Feb. 24. But with the Musketeers in contention for a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance, they followed the Villanova win with a 90-81 loss to Seton Hall, then lost again to the Pirates less than two weeks later in the Big East Tournament semifinals.
With the disappointing conference tournament exit behind them, the Musketeers start fresh on Friday. If they can make it past the Elite Eight for the first time, this year’s team has the chance to make history once more.
“We have a pretty loose group, and the pressure comes from within,” Mack said. “The guys I have in my locker room are extremely competitive, so it’s the want for self-fulfillment, not the outside pressure or expectations. We don’t worry about that, just as we didn’t worry about it at the beginning of the year when there weren’t a lot of (expectations) out there.
“You are defined by how you play in March, in the NCAA Tournament, but it won’t take away the feeling that I have coaching this group. It’s been a fun group and we’re going to try to keep this thing rolling as long as we can.”
Xavier plays Weber State in the NCAA Tournament second round at 9:20 p.m. Friday in St. Louis.
This article appears in Mar 9-16, 2016.
