Game of the year on Wednesday

[xavierfano8]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I think both times Villanova came to Cintas the students were on break. Cintas is so much better with the students there. Couple that with #1 coming to town and I think you'll have a Crosstown Shootout type atmosphere on Wednesday night.

[gtmoBlue]

Promises to be a very good contest between 2 outstanding Top 5 teams.
Great television for those who watch. Cintas will be rockin'...X wins at home.
Great top tier game and PR for the Big East.

[NovaBall]

Nova 78
Xavier 72

Josh Hart's 19 pts and 12 boards earns him player of the game

Xavier fans happy to keep the score within a touchdown!!

[ChestRockwell85]

Agreed that the atmosphere is 10X better when the students are there. When the students are on break at Villanova, they still fill up the student section at The Pavilion with people but it is a totally different vibe than when the students are there. If Villanova can beat Xavier at home, I think it proves Villanova deserves their #1 ranking, something I am not sure we would have if we were in a conference like the ACC. Regardless of #1 ranking, Villanova and Xavier are legit Top 10 teams and I am expecting a dog fight.

[XUFan09]

Pretty sure he just meant based on rpi, ranking, the fact that it wasn't at home and they have a front runner for npoy that the Oklahoma game was our most difficult on the schedule? Is it that crazy of a thing to say?

It's not a crazy thing to say, and I respect the opinion, but I still think it's wrong. A neutral court game is not looked at as favorably as a true road game. This is especially true when you consider that Cintas is annually rated as one of the hardest places to win on the road for opponents.

Yeah, a road game is much tougher than a neutral court game, so if the two opponents in question are approximately equal, the one played on the road is much tougher.

[NovaBall]

Virginia is ranked higher than Xavier right now? So maybe the @ Virginia game was the toughest game for Nova? not the Oklahoma or Xavier game?

Doesn't really matter though. The Oklahoma game was very tough. Early in the year, nova was replacing three starters, didn't really have an offense besides chucking threes. They played better at Virginia, but never really threatened too late. We shall see what happens in Cincinnati.

[FormulaX]

Agreed that the atmosphere is 10X better when the students are there. When the students are on break at Villanova, they still fill up the student section at The Pavilion with people but it is a totally different vibe than when the students are there. If Villanova can beat Xavier at home, I think it proves Villanova deserves their #1 ranking, something I am not sure we would have if we were in a conference like the ACC. Regardless of #1 ranking, Villanova and Xavier are legit Top 10 teams and I am expecting a dog fight.

Great post on a heated thread! I think home court and the odds will be enough for a Xavier win. Finally!

[Westbrook#36]

Pretty sure he just meant based on rpi, ranking, the fact that it wasn't at home and they have a front runner for npoy that the Oklahoma game was our most difficult on the schedule? Is it that crazy of a thing to say?

It's not a crazy thing to say, and I respect the opinion, but I still think it's wrong. A neutral court game is not looked at as favorably as a true road game. This is especially true when you consider that Cintas is annually rated as one of the hardest places to win on the road for opponents.

Yeah, a road game is much tougher than a neutral court game, so if the two opponents in question are approximately equal, the one played on the road is much tougher.

If it were a typical neutral court game. Flying 12 hours and 6 time zones away to play in an airplane hangar with crappy lighting, I don't think qualifies as "typical". That's not even mentioning the game at UVa, so really it's a coin flip of which one of these 3(OK, UVa, X) games you would call Nova's "hardest game of the year to win".

[ivet]

I'm torn. On one side, I like X because they are the underdog and would give them a good shot of getting a 1 seed and 'Nova would still be in a good position to get a 1 seed as well. Having two 1 seeds in the tournament would be great. On the other end, X would probably lose out on the overall #1 seed and even if X loses but does well the rest of the season, they would still be in consideration for a #1 seed. It would also be great if both teams split then meet up again in the BE tourney for the tie breaker.

[stever20]

I'm torn. On one side, I like X because they are the underdog and would give them a good shot of getting a 1 seed and 'Nova would still be in a good position to get a 1 seed as well. Having two 1 seeds in the tournament would be great. On the other end, X would probably lose out on the overall #1 seed and even if X loses but does well the rest of the season, they would still be in consideration for a #1 seed. It would also be great if both teams split then meet up again in the BE tourney for the tie breaker.

The thing for Nova IMO is a loss, and they could lose out on Philly for their regional site. If they lose, could see UVA passing them, and the committee putting them in the east which is their natural region. Nova would still be a 1, but may have to go out west for instance.