One year ago tomorrow night - not by the calendar on your wall, but by the college basketball calendar, which is far more important - Xavier's 2012-2013 season came to a close. The Musketeers didn't have their name called for the NCAA tournament, which was no surprise. They were also not chosen to participate in the NIT, which was much more surprising. As Xavier fans googled terms like "CBI" and "CIT" and "shame," I fired up my texting machine. A couple of minutes later, we had confirmation from the staff that Xavier was choosing to let the season lie where it fell rather than participate in one of the lower-tier tournaments. It was over.
The summer passed. Semaj apparently spent a lot of time working on his jump shot. Isaiah Philmore got even stronger. Dee failed to get taller but otherwise improved his standing as much as he could. James Farr traded himself in for a different James Farr. JMart did whatever it is he does when he's not here. Matt Stainbrook, Myles Davis, and Jalen Reynolds all became eligible to compete. Then the season came.
There were ups and downs and ups and downs. Xavier went from completely unregarded in the preseason to playing for seeding to the middle of the Big East pack to finally third in the league, second-best in their conference tournament semifinal, and a resident of the bubble. Semaj and the Stain Train scored their thousandth collegiate points. Many, many good things happened. Now we're down to basically 20 hours at this point. The hay is in the barn; what's done is done, and chances to improve the resume have finally run out. The case has been made both on the court and to the press, and now it's up to the committee.
The team is watching the selection show at Coach Mack's house. I'll be here at Banners Central, locked in on each successive draw. Brad, Bryan, and Andrew will be following from Banners South, Banners North, and Banners PA, respectively. Don your luckiest garb, light a candle, and hope the committee sees the merit in our favorite team's accomplishments. The only thing worse than the tension you feel right now was the tension you didn't feel last year.