Villanova/Xavier & Marquette/Creighton

[Rum_Ham]

Good game Xavier. If Kansas loses then Xavier should definitely be number 1 if they beat Seton hall this weekend. If not then they are number 2. With Virginia losing Villanova should replace them at 3 if they win at Marquette as Oklahoma has lost 3 out of their last 5 and stayed at 4. Hopefully the media's recap of this game is that Xavier played great and is a final four contender but I''m sure this just gives some reporters (Gottlieb) more reasons to keep labeling Villanova as overrated.

[Xudash]

And Xavier doesn't even storm the court, acting like they have been there before, I like it.

Great game X. You guys deserve the W. I am just happy Villanova didn't back off and didn't let it turn into a blowout, played hard for the whole 40 minutes.

Hopefully see you guys again at MSG, clearly the 2 best teams in the Big East.

Congrats on the terrific W. If you win against Seton Hall on Sunday I hope you guys end up #1.

That was an excellent basketball game.

I sat in front of my television, watching two teams impose their wills on each other. The difference this time was that the game took place in the Cintas Center, which was absolutely rocking, and the fact that Xavier wanted to make a statement and wanted revenge.

The intensity was electric. And Nova showed why they're one of the top programs in the country. They never gave up.

As games on television go, I suspect both teams earned their keep tonight. And very classy exchanges during the post game line as the teams shook hands.

Damn, I love this conference.

[XUFan09]

Good game Xavier. If Kansas loses then Xavier should definitely be number 1 if they beat Seton hall this weekend. If not then they are number 2. With Virginia losing Villanova should replace them at 3 if they win at Marquette as Oklahoma has lost 3 out of their last 5 and stayed at 4. Hopefully the media's recap of this game is that Xavier played great and is a final four contender but I''m sure this just gives some reporters (Gottlieb) more reasons to keep labeling Villanova as overrated.

It's probably to much to hope for KU to lose at home to Texas Tech on Saturday. I would love to see them lose to Texas on the road the following Monday, though.

[billyjack]

Congrats X on an impressive win. X and V are both national champ contenders.

[xsteve1]

Nova is one heck of a team. Hope we get 2 teams in the Final 4.

[marquette]

You both acquitted yourselves well, and congrats to X. Great game. Did anything else of interest happen today?

[FenwayFriar]

Great game. Snapchat even has a "#1 Nova vs. #5 Xavier" snapchat story that they produced. For the non-Snapchatters, big events (sports, politics, pop culture) get their own story of people Snapping about the event. You know it's a big-time national event when it has its own Snapchat story. Big East is back (although it never left)!

[herodotus]

You both acquitted yourselves well, and congrats to X. Great game. Did anything else of interest happen today?

You mean like Marquette putting any remaining Creighton hopes to rest?

[stever20]

Yeah, Creighton is pretty much done now. And frankly, depending on how many bid thieves they are, they may need even 1 more win besides St John's to make the NIT. You figure before last night, they weren't even on many folks first 8 teams out of the NCAA tourney boards- more like 12-15 range. Normally it goes to about 20 before all the bid thieves take the last 12 spots. It's going to be close for them with the NIT(same goes for Marquette). The thing that will be interesting with Creighton/Marquette- they would be well served going to the CBI if they don't get the NIT- just to get the extra games. Will they though?

[cu blujs]

The Creighton team that played last night is certainly not an NCAA team - but I haven't thought that all year, even after the win over X. Just not a consistent enough ability to score (which seems funny for a team averaging what we have been - but we are trending down in efficiency, I think). When teams figure out how to keep Mo from getting deep in the lane, we are really ineffective, because guys have fallen into lapses of standing and waiting for Mo to do something. I have been hoping for an NIT so the guys get a taste of post-conference tournament play this year. But, I fear the season has really ground down Mo and Isiah, with Cole Huff not being able to practice other than day before games due to his knee or knees, and with most of our back-ups being freshmen who were given very little playing time up to this point, it just really makes it difficult to be consistent. It appears we have hit the wall over the last half dozen games (X game being the outlier). I agree that at this point we have to beat SJ and I think we must win at least one BET game to feel relatively comfortable about an NIT bid. But, losing to SJ could well put CU in a Wednesday night BET game and kill any chance of an NIT. I just don't know if there is enough there to push through the last three games - wining Sunday - and get at least a first round win in MSG. Perhaps they will surprise me.