2017 Crosstown Shootout

[XU.]

With the calendar turning to 2017 is it too early to start talking about the crosstown shootout? The game is about three weeks away and we are still in the dark about whether or not Myles is going to be playing. With that being said I think X still has the horses to win this one convincingly even without Davis in the lineup. The last time UC beat X was in the year 2012 and I don't see that changing this year. As of yesterday here is how the Kenpom rankings play out:

Xavier: Overall Rank - 17, Offensive Efficiency - 22, Defensive Efficiency - 28

Cincinnati: Overall Rank - 19, Offensive Efficiency - 54, Defensive Efficiency - 4

Thoughts?

[Emp]

Thoughts:

1. Bigger fish to fry between now and then.

2. They suck. Really, all the time, but most of all the day we play them.

[XUMIOH12]

if they dont make a bunch of 3s and Xavier keeps them off the O-boards, then it will be a win.

[sirthought]

This will be a tougher matchup than people on this board want to admit.

XU can handle almost anyone, of course, but these Bearcats could beat them if their bigs really start to score well. Much better balanced team than in the past.

That Bluiett/Evans matchup will be interesting.

[Juice]

This will be a tougher matchup than people on this board want to admit.

XU can handle almost anyone, of course, but these Bearcats could beat them if their bigs really start to score well. Much better balanced team than in the past.

That Bluiett/Evans matchup will be interesting.

As of now, I think UC wins since it's at the Shoe.

[GoMuskies]

This will be a tougher matchup than people on this board want to admit.

I'm not sure what this Xavier team has done that would make anyone particularly confident of a win on the road against a top 25 team.

[markchal]

I'm not sure what this Xavier team has done that would make anyone particularly confident of a win on the road against a top 25 team.

I agree with this. I just have a bad feeling about this game, even though we generally own them.

[gladdenguy]

This team has a long way to go. With this matchup only a couple weeks away, being on the road, and the fact that sUCks actually has more scoring than in the past, I don't see Xavier winning this game.

The big picture is to obviously get St. Johns on Saturday. If they can do that, they would go into the tough 5 game stretch with the following options
(A) 0-5 - in jeopardy of not making the tourney.......3-4 in the Big East

(B) 1-4 - not good...... either 3-4 or 4-3 in the Big East

(C) 2-3 - decent/average and that means at least 1 good win (Creighton, @Butler, @sUCks, @Nova) 4-3 or 5-2 in the Big East

(D) 3-2 - very good and means at least 2 good wins 6-1 or 5-2 in the Big East

(E) 4-1 - awesome and means at least 3 good wins (top 10 as well) 7-0 or 6-1 in the Big East

(F) 5-0 - not happening

Realistically, I'm thinking 2-3 or 3-2

[xufan2434]

To be honest, I have no idea why but I feel better about this game than I did a couple weeks ago. Every time I actually look into it, I just don't see how UC has the fire power to stay with X. Sometimes they put up 90, other times it's 50. Caupain has been playing great as a point guard, but I honestly thought he would be dominating by now when he first started. Same goes for Gary Clark. I know Evans and Washington have stepped up for them, they just don't scare me all that much. Everyone has been saying the last two years UC had more scoring, and then look what happened

Here's the other thing about that gauntlet X will go through. @ Nova, @ Butler, Creighton, Gtown... How is UC going to look to those guys after going through that slate? Talk about being battled tested for a big game. Not to mention I think Mack runs circles around Cronin. X always has that in their favor. The AAC sucks. That's advantage X from the tip when it comes to how physical and fast they'll be used to playing.

[Milhouse]

UC has a good squad this year.

That said the AAC is worse than ever- maybe a 2 bid league? if UC runs the table and wins conference tourney it could legitimately be a 1 team league.

I hate to be like this, because UC fans were like this and I REALLY want to win this game obviously but-

-There is a good chance we end up being the highest ranked Kenpom game UC plays this year (for the 3rd year in a row)
--For reference - UC would be the 6th highest ranked game we play this year (Nova x2, Butler x2, Baylor) - maybe even lower depending on how creighton fares.


UC has 5 top 50 match ups left this year. Currently they're 1-2 in top 50 match ups.
X has9 top 50 match ups left thisyear. Currently they're 2-1 in top 50 match ups ( remains to be seen how wake will finish though)
--Gtown and Seton hall are at 53/54 so they could bump in.


There's a reason UC puts this game in January and X puts it in December....their tough stretch is back to back houston/smu. Our is Nova/Butler/Creighton...going 3-3 against the top of the BE will do more for our resume than a win over UC-but I'd probably still take the W over UC if i'm honest.