Yancy Gates and/or Cheikh Mbodj should have been suspended for the entire season or kicked off the team entirely.  There is no place in the game for what those two did.  Remember when LeGarrette Blount punched that Boise player?  IIRC he was suspended for 10 games... nearly the entire season.  It also cost him a lot of money by bumping him down the draft.  When you look at precedent, the punishment does not fit the crime.  The NCAA needs to step in here and do what these schools/conferences won't.

 

I'm also surprised Holloway got off so easy... 1 game?  I was expecting 5 or so for him, mainly for his instigation of the incident, but also for his comments after the game.

 

A full season suspension for a fight is completely unprecedented.

 

As for Holloway, Xavier has Gonzaga game coming up, there's no way they'd suspend him for that.  Suspensions are done strategically, UC's just aren't as transparent since Big East play doesn't begin until after the new year.  Xavier has a #8 ranking to play for, and important games coming up.

 

Wasn't much of a fight.  More like one sucker punch.....Yancy is a coward and should be suspended longer than 6 games. 

 

Yancy Gates was classless; I don't think "coward" is the right word, though.  There was, however, some cowering during the fight, if "cowered" was the word you were looking for.

 

Nope I used the right word. 

Xavier gets the #10 seed in the South Region. 

 

They will face #7 Notre Dame in Greensboro, NC on Friday.

It's Xavier over Notre Dame 67-63.

 

X now faces #15 Lehigh, who shockingly upset Duke.

Xavier knocks out #15 cinderella Lehigh to advance into the Sweet 16.

 

X will face #3 Baylor.

Xaiver got eliminated in the Sweet 16 by Baylor.  X goes down 18 points in the first half before closing to 7 points at halftime.  X makes it close in the second half before Baylor wins 75-70.

It looks like Butler is moving on up as a replacement for Temple:

Will This Dog Lose His Bite?That's the question now that Butler has upgraded to the Atlantic 10, but why all the doubt? Eamonn Brennan thinks the Butler Way will both survive and thrive. Column »Bulldogs to A-10 »Blog »

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation

Xavier's in the 2014 Tournament.  The good news is they get to play their first game in Dayton.  The bad news is it's a first round match-up (the NCAA says don't call it a play-in game).

 

#12 seeded Xavier will face #12 seeded NC State on Tuesday night at 9:10pm (game televised on TruTV).  The winner advances to face #5 Saint Louis at Orlando on Thursday.

 

Hilarious irony.  UD Arena will be full of fans eager to root against Xavier.

Hilarious irony.  UD Arena will be full of fans eager to root against Xavier.

 

Not if X fans buy tickets, have to think they will?

Hilarious irony.  UD Arena will be full of fans eager to root against Xavier.

 

Not if X fans buy tickets, have to think they will?

 

I think UD season ticket holders still have an option to buy into these games (may actually come with the season tickets).  As such I would expect many to show up just to root against X.  There's still a good bit of bad blood there.

Pretty crappy showing by XU last night...

Xavier reaches the Sweet 16: http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400786184

End of the road for Xavier against #2 Arizona:  http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/boxscore?gameId=400786370

Boo ya!

The Muskies are looking legit. With Louisville forfeiting a possible Final Four, I will be rooting hard for X this year! Time for a Cincy team to win a championship.

Bill Murray approves. March Madness will be wide open this year. As a UC (can't shoot) fan, I got to give X credit for playing well for so long. I like their chances.

Yeah, it's great to see X doing so well. Meanwhile in Clifton, Mick is cruising to yet another mediocre season, where the NCAA tournament is in jeopardy of even being reached. He, like Marvin Lewis, inherited a bad situation and at least made it stable, but has clearly shown he doesn't have what it takes to elevate the program back to where it once was. UC basketball is but a shadow of its former self, and that's sad. But for now, go X!

I will be rooting against Xavier this year. Go Flyers! (sorry, had to, rivalry is too strong haha)

And then X proceeds to put the egg back in Xggavier

Xavier gets the #2 seed in the East.  Assuming seeds hold (which this year is an even dumber assumption than usual, and it's usually pretty dumb), they'll face Weber State, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and North Carolina to get to the Final Four.

 

The great thing is that Xavier can win any of those games, even North Carolina.  The tough thing is that Xavier can lose any of those games--even Weber State.  (Weber State already owns one of the upsets that makes those lists of "Top ___ March Madness Upsets" from when they were a 14 seed and took out North Carolina in the first round all the way back in 1999.)

No love for Xavier?  They're in the Elite 8 after upsetting Arizona.

Don't get me wrong, it's great to have an Ohio team in the top five.

 

But seriously, they got away with one yesterday.  And more generally, they seem to be this season's kings of narrow escapes.  Of course, a win's a win ... but that foul with 0.3 seconds left was a little bit generous by the refs.

^ Yeah that last foul was a pretty terrible call:

 

Yahoo Sports is reporting that Xavier is one of at least twenty programs under investigation by the FBI.

 

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/college/xavier/2018/02/23/xaviers-mack-we-prepared-cooperate-any-and-all-investigations/366503002/

 

Xavier and Kentucky are among at least 20 Division I basketball programs, according to a report by Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde and Pete Thamel, linked to expense reports and balance sheets that list cash advances - as well as entertainment and travel expenses for high school and college prospects and their families - from former NBA agent Andy Miller, his former associate Christian Dawkins and ASM Sports.

 

And Xavier head coach Chris Mack, according to the report, is the only coach of a dozen contacted by Yahoo Sports to elect to release a statement.

With all these schools involved is this really an indictment of the schools or the NCAA and the game itself. I am not sure if sanctions here from the NCAA is really warranted because it goes beyond the individual schools and goes more to the entire integrity of the game itself.

It's hard to say at this point. I think this is still just the tip of the iceberg. I wouldn't be surprised to see incitements against folks in the AAU system and the NCAA itself. Once this all shakes out, college sports might revert to what we now see at the club-level or the sham of amateurism may finally abolished.

 

I find it very interesting the NBA is starting to explicitly market the G League (formerly known as the D League) as an alternative for top prospects. Their clear end game is to supplant college basketball with a minor league system they profit from and control. Ultimately that might be better for everyone involved.

I think this is still just the tip of the iceberg.

 

Didn't take long for that prediction to prove correct.

 

Former Xavier head coach Sean Miller caught on a FBI wiretap attempting to arrange a $100k payment to a recruit. Besides the implications for his career and Arizona basketball, he could potentially be facing jail time for fraud.

 

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/22559284/sean-miller-arizona-christian-dawkins-discussed-payment-ensure-deandre-ayton-signing-according-fbi-investigation

 

According to people with knowledge of the FBI investigation, Miller and Dawkins, a runner working for ASM Sports agent Andy Miller, had multiple conversations about Ayton. When Dawkins asked Miller if he should work with assistant coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson to finalize their agreement, Miller told Dawkins he should deal directly with him when it came to money, the sources said.

 

The telephone calls between Miller and Dawkins were among 3,000 hours of conversations intercepted from Dawkins' phone by the FBI.

Xavier won the regular season Big East championship. It's the first time they have won the league since joining.

Xavier lost to Providence in 75-72 in OT of the second round of the Big East Tournament.

 

They were selected to a Number 1 seed for the NCAA tournament. It is the first time the Musketeers have ever been a one seed.

Unfortunately Xavier's season ended early. They lost 75-70 in the second round to 9 seed Florida State (whom they beat in the tournament last year by 25). Disappointing end for what might have been Xavier's best team ever.