:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/27426495/168985902.0.jpg)
About 90% of my waking hours between November and April are spent knocking around the internet looking for interesting information regarding college basketball. Imagine my surprise, then, when I found a bracketology site that was projecting Xavier as a 4-seed in the NCAA tournament. Intrigued, I hit him up on Twitter to ask why he had our boys on that high a line. Here's what he said:
@BannersParkway I look at XU as a team that had one awful tourney and a very good schedule otherwise. That mid-Dec to mid-Jan schedule...
— Michael Brooks (@BracketBriefer) January 24, 2014
@BannersParkway ...should have been much more brutal. The next two road games should prove everything for XU, though.
— Michael Brooks (@BracketBriefer) January 24, 2014
That's... actually fairly reasonable. Xavier is 15-1 on the continent and undefeated in states with a bicameral legislature. A six-point road loss to Creighton is not a black mark on a team's record. This particular site's method is a little different than what you usually see from bracketologists, but it's also worth noting that CBS's Jerry Palm - who has been at this for a long time - has Xavier on the 5 line right now. I feel like getting about a 7-seed is a big step for a team. A 6 going after a 3 in the second round is facing a peer who got some better breaks; a 7 taking on a 2 is seriously punching above its weight.
Is Xavier actually going to deserve that high a seed in the tournament? I have no idea. It's nice to see them discussed with four that doesn't come between the words "last" and "out" though.