Tue 2/25, Xavier (8-6) at St John's (8-7), 7pm FS1.

[Bill Marsh]

Big win for XU. A win at Seton Hall puts them in the tourney IMO. Couple chances remain for big resume builders as well.

Huge win for Xavier, their first win against a top 100 team.

IMO one more win against anyone puts them on the right side of the bubble, but still on the bubble. I believe that 2 more wins puts them in the tournament without having to sweat selection Sunday and without having to sweat conference tournament upsets.

I expect that they will win one more game in the regular season. If they face St. John's in the BE tournament, back in The Garden, that should be a really interesting game.

I assume you mean Xavier's first ROAD win against a top 100 team.

Sorry, yes, I did. K thought that's what I had typed, but I obviously did not. That's what I get for typing while watching the game. Thanks for catching it. I'll edit my post.

[Bill Marsh]

I think this is a good result for the Big East. As long as X beats Seton Hall, they should be in. SJU still has a chance to get in with a win against Depaul and win @Marquette.

They'll need more than DePaul and Marquette- at least 1 win in the BET. 20-12 almost certainly doesn't get them in.

I think that it will take 2 wins in the BE tournament in addition to DePaul and Marquette, which I think they will pull off. But with those tournament games being played in the garden, 2 wins there can't be ruled out. I would expect them to win their first game - especially if it is a rematch with Xavier. The real question is whether they can follow that up with a win over either Creighton or Villanova.

[XUFan09]

I assume you mean Xavier's first ROAD win against a top 100 team.

Alabama pisses me off. At the time that Xavier beat them, they were #80 in the RPi and #58 on Kenpom, suggesting that they were going to stay in the top 100 in RPI and maybe break into the top 75. Instead, they might not even be in the top 125 after how they imploded.

[BEX]

Reynolds played with some passion tonite. hope it rubs off on some other guys.

[stever20]

I think this is a good result for the Big East. As long as X beats Seton Hall, they should be in. SJU still has a chance to get in with a win against Depaul and win @Marquette.

They'll need more than DePaul and Marquette- at least 1 win in the BET. 20-12 almost certainly doesn't get them in.

I think that it will take 2 wins in the BE tournament in addition to DePaul and Marquette, which I think they will pull off. But with those tournament games being played in the garden, 2 wins there can't be ruled out. I would expect them to win their first game - especially if it is a rematch with Xavier. The real question is whether they can follow that up with a win over either Creighton or Villanova.

think 21-12 would give them a real shot. 22-12 and it's a lock I think.

If they go 1-1, they face a very real shot that they could be in the Play in game if Georgetown can beat Creighton or Nova once.

[SJHooper]

People need to stop acting like you have to be a world beater to get in the tourney. My prediction is that SJ is finished. But if SJ can beat Marquette and DePaul I think that puts them on the right side of the bubble. Winning 1 in the BET would lock it up. Some people are basically saying they have to win both reg season games and make it to the BET finals or win it. Just not true. This is a team that put G'Town down like a dog, beat #12 Creighton and a last second NBA 3 to avoid losing twice to SJ. This is a team that had Nova fighting for their lives twice to avoid the upset and that's with missing players too. This is a team that made Cuse fans hold their breath and crap themselves. The #1 team (at their peak). The schedule is sprinkled with teams who were in and out of the top 10. This is not the MAAC where you would need to have an impeccable resume to get an at large. I think the committee understands that the Big East is 1 big meat grinder. Teams beat each other up…the records won't be pretty and neither will some stats. But that's better than getting fat off cupcakes and having a deceiving record. Is it possible for SJ to still make the tourney? Yes.

Will they? No. I guarantee it. I've been a fan of bad teams for way too long to have any hope there. Crapped the bed 0-5 to start the season, went on a huge run, now the run is over and it's back to bad to mediocre basketball. Put SJ in a must win scenario and they will lose every time. This is a team that does not get up for the biggest games. They get up for big opponents, but they don't respond when they have NCAA aspirations on the line. Harrison went 1-11. I mean that is just the worst possible day you can have. I hate how unlucky this team is. It's like rooting for a horse that Mush from A Bronx Tale bet on. It's over. It's like the deadbeat boyfriend the girl always goes back to. People ask why she still goes back and she can't explain it. That's me with this team. Nothing but garbage and failure for the better part of 25 years but somehow I still support them. This year is over. Next year if they don't make the tourney I give up and Lavin needs to be launched from one of those cartoonish cannonballs screaming all the way back to Hollywood. It's amazing how every New York team is the same that most people root for here as SJ fans…Knicks, Mets, Jets, Isles. A good season every 10 years, great years in the mid to late 80's, but have been bottom of the barrel for 25 years.

[GumbyDamnit!]

People need to stop acting like you have to be a world beater to get in the tourney. My prediction is that SJ is finished. But if SJ can beat Marquette and DePaul I think that puts them on the right side of the bubble. Winning 1 in the BET would lock it up. Some people are basically saying they have to win both reg season games and make it to the BET finals or win it. Just not true. This is a team that put G'Town down like a dog, beat #12 Creighton and a last second NBA 3 to avoid losing twice to SJ. This is a team that had Nova fighting for their lives twice to avoid the upset and that's with missing players too. This is a team that made Cuse fans hold their breath and crap themselves. The #1 team (at their peak). The schedule is sprinkled with teams who were in and out of the top 10. This is not the MAAC where you would need to have an impeccable resume to get an at large. I think the committee understands that the Big East is 1 big meat grinder. Teams beat each other up…the records won't be pretty and neither will some stats. But that's better than getting fat off cupcakes and having a deceiving record. Is it possible for SJ to still make the tourney? Yes.

Will they? No. I guarantee it. I've been a fan of bad teams for way too long to have any hope there. Crapped the bed 0-5 to start the season, went on a huge run, now the run is over and it's back to bad to mediocre basketball. Put SJ in a must win scenario and they will lose every time. This is a team that does not get up for the biggest games. They get up for big opponents, but they don't respond when they have NCAA aspirations on the line. Harrison went 1-11. I mean that is just the worst possible day you can have. I hate how unlucky this team is. It's like rooting for a horse that Mush from A Bronx Tale bet on. It's over. It's like the deadbeat boyfriend the girl always goes back to. People ask why she still goes back and she can't explain it. That's me with this team. Nothing but garbage and failure for the better part of 25 years but somehow I still support them. This year is over. Next year if they don't make the tourney I give up and Lavin needs to be launched from one of those cartoonish cannonballs screaming all the way back to Hollywood. It's amazing how every New York team is the same that most people root for here as SJ fans…Knicks, Mets, Jets, Isles. A good season every 10 years, great years in the mid to late 80's, but have been bottom of the barrel for 25 years.

SjHooper don't give up yet--you never know. Not trying to throw salt in any wound here but your post is the embodiment of the 7 stages of grief. This team would drive me nuts if I were a fan of it too.

[xu155]

1. Huge win for X. The Big East absolutely must get at least 4 teams in to the tourney, and this gets X closer to helping out with that. I mean, the freakin A10 is going to get at least 4. Gotta get at least that many.

2. Holy crap, Jalen Reynolds has so much potential its silly. Big breakout game for him. He changes this team so much.

3. Tarik Turner is the most hilariously biased commentator ever. I mean he could at least try to be unbiased. Not that it really matters, I just started to laugh at it.

4. The Fox Sports CBB guy they interviewed before this game brought up an excellent point. The CBS and especially ESPN guys keep saying "Well this isn't the old big east. It just isn't that great this year. They'll get 4 teams or so in the dance, but not a ton.....etc. etc." I'm not saying the league is elite this year, because it isn't. Marquette, Gtown, Xavier, and Butler are among the teams that aren't having their best season compared to program history, which shows. But the Fox Sports CBB guy actually pointed out that although this league lost Cuse, Ville, and UCONN, it also lost Rutgers and USF. Those were two more free wins last year. I was just happy to see someone point that out.

[Bluejay]

3. Tarik Turner is the most hilariously biased commentator ever. I mean he could at least try to be unbiased. Not that it really matters, I just started to laugh at it.

The guy is brutal. He doesn't even try to be professional. Continually referring to Harrison as "Dangelo" is ridiculously homerish.

4. The Fox Sports CBB guy they interviewed before this game brought up an excellent point. The CBS and especially ESPN guys keep saying "Well this isn't the old big east. It just isn't that great this year. They'll get 4 teams or so in the dance, but not a ton.....etc. etc." I'm not saying the league is elite this year, because it isn't. Marquette, Gtown, Xavier, and Butler are among the teams that aren't having their best season compared to program history, which shows. But the Fox Sports CBB guy actually pointed out that although this league lost Cuse, Ville, and UCONN, it also lost Rutgers and USF. Those were two more free wins last year. I was just happy to see someone point that out.

The shots at the league are ridiculous. We have two teams in the Top 10. The Big Ten, by comparison, has zero.

[SJHooper]

Lol 7 stages of grief...well can you really blame me? I dare Nova, Creighton, or even G'Town fans to put up with this team as a fan. St. John's IS the Mets. St. John's IS the Islanders. St. John's IS the Knicks. They are all the same. Once every 10 years they make a real run. Past glory, but recent failure. Terrible for almost the entire lives of younger fans 25 and under. This team is finished. I know it. Let me know the bet and I'll make it with a firm handshake. So sick of saying maybe next year...but...maybe next year. I think there's a chance we actually do even worse next year. Probably 16 or 17 wins. Maybe .500 in conference if lucky.

The thing that cracks me up is why people seem so stumped as to why we don't pack the Garden full with fans. They come down on students and other fans for being no shows. First of all it's a 7 PM game on a weekday. People have work early the next morning and students have night class during it. SJU is one of the most diverse student populations. You can go 10 minutes walking on campus without hearing English being spoken. Nothing wrong with that but if you want the fanbase unified then it ain't happening. SJ is a school that takes people from all walks of life from tons of different countries. Their first priority is not college hoops like a school like Nova which is homogeneous and on the same page with the same students from the same culture and backgrounds. The other part is that...well...St. John's SUCKS. They have sucked like I said...for the better part of the past 25 years! I'm 24. The people who were around in 1985 have a much higher opinion and sense of tradition than people born in the late 80's and younger. They actually saw a legit national championship contender with Mullin. If you are 25 and under, just making the tournament at all is like catching bigfoot on camera. This is why I say other fanbases take their success for granted. Teams go through hot and cold periods. Creighton, Nova, etc. are in their golden ages still. Will their fans really come out and support them if they had 25 years of failure? Absolutely not.

Bottom line: win or the fans won't come. People are too busy in NY to take the train/bus/drive to midtown Manhattan on 7 PM on a weeknight to see a team that has been awful for so long. It doesn't work this way: fans come --> team succeeds --> team wins. It works this way: team wins --> fans come --> team succeeds. I had an awful feeling about last night and every SJ game gives me an upset stomach. This team is not even close to the point where you can reliably count on them to consistently win let alone huge games. Time after time this team has chances and comes up short. How the hell can you blame the fans for not attending other than the diehards?