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Whelan Watch: Week 1

Xavier walk-on Tim Whelan has announced that he is not going to get his damaged tooth repaired until the Muskies are ranked. With the polls coming out on a weekly basis, we'll use this space to track Whelan's progress towards once again being dentally whole.

By Joel D

In the week that just was, Xavier posted an impressive win over Butler and a gutsy one over Robert Morris. Neither of those teams is currently ranked, but Butler will stand out to the pollsters as a nice scalp on the Muskies' belt as the season goes forward. Was that enough to get Xavier into the top 25?

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This week's polls.

Well, no. Not even close, really. There are signs of life for Xavier, though. After starting the season as a complete non-entity, a three-game winning streak has taken them into the "others receiving votes" category on the AP side of things. I'm sure the coaches will catch up soon. The grim fact remains, though, that Xavier is 91 points adrift of an AP ranking and 77 votes from scratching into the top 25 of the Coaches' Poll.

In the upcoming week, Xavier will be playing at the DirecTV Classic in Anaheim. Pacific isn't a team that will impress the voters either way, but X is guaranteed an important matchup with either St. Mary's or Drexel in the second round, depending on the results of the first round of games. To get Whelan in the dentist's chair as soon as possible, it's vital that Xavier keeps winning. Realistically, though, grabbing two wins over the weekend should be considered a good trip for the Musketeers.

Whelan's status: Still taking his dinners through a straw.