NCAA Tournament March Madness Bubble Watch: Xavier

NCAA Tournament March Madness

#106 Xavier

Bubble Watch | Bracketology

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Projection: likely out

Xavier has flashes that matter for a resume, most notably a neutral-site victory over West Virginia and a gritty road win at Georgetown, but those highlights are outweighed by damaging losses that expose inconsistency against good teams, including a lopsided home defeat to Creighton and heavy losses at Iowa and to Connecticut, plus a road setback at DePaul, all of which raise real questions about the team away from its building. The nonconference body of work is mostly against lesser opponents, so there are few signature wins to lean on, which puts a premium on the upcoming gauntlet of conference games — trips to Creighton, Connecticut and Villanova and home showdowns with marquee league rivals — as the only clear path to reverse the narrative. Until Xavier posts a clean, quality road or neutral victory over a highly regarded opponent, those stark bad losses and the paucity of top-tier wins explain why its current standing feels appropriate.

Date	Opponent	Ranking	Outcome
11/3	Marist	139	W66-62
11/6	Le Moyne	301	W74-69
11/10	Santa Clara	55	L87-68
11/14	@Iowa	17	L81-62
11/18	Old Dominion	250	W99-69
11/21	(N)Georgia	26	L78-77
11/23	(N)West Virginia	69	W78-68
11/28	TAM C. Christi	179	W88-67
12/1	St Francis PA	362	W96-74
12/5	Cincinnati	65	W79-74
12/12	Missouri St	200	W75-57
12/17	Creighton	43	L98-57
12/20	@Georgetown	107	W80-77
12/31	Connecticut	7	L90-67
1/3	@DePaul	109	L86-77
1/7	@Marquette	118	43%
1/10	Providence	64	46%
1/14	Butler	54	41%
1/21	@Creighton	43	18%
1/24	St John's	25	26%
1/28	@Seton Hall	47	19%
1/31	DePaul	109	62%
2/3	@Connecticut	7	4%
2/9	@St John's	25	11%
2/14	Marquette	118	65%
2/17	Villanova	22	23%
2/21	@Butler	54	22%
2/24	@Providence	64	26%
2/28	Georgetown	107	61%
3/3	Seton Hall	47	37%
3/7	@Villanova	22	10%