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This seems so far away still...The Big East conference schedule has finally been released, meaning we know the who, when, and where of every game Xavier will play this year (except for those determined by tournament results). Here's the whole shebang in one sort of easy to read table:
| DEC/JAN | FEB | MAR |
|---|---|---|
| at Villanova | St. John's | Creighton |
| Thursday, December 31, 2015 | Wednesday, February 03, 2016 | Saturday, March 05, 2016 |
| 12 P.M. | 6:30 P.M. | 2:30 P.M. |
| TV: FS1 | TV: FS1 | TV: FSN-Local |
| . | . | |
| Butler | Marquette | |
| Saturday, January 02, 2016 | Saturday, February 06, 2016 | |
| 1 P.M. | 12 P.M. | |
| TV: FS1 | TV: FS1 | |
| . | . | |
| at St. John's | at Creighton | |
| Wednesday, January 06, 2016 | Tuesday, February 09, 2016 | |
| 9 P.M. | 8 P.M. | |
| TV: FS1 | TV: CBSSN | |
| . | . | |
| DePaul | at Butler | |
| Tuesday, January 12, 2016 | Saturday, February 13, 2016 | |
| 6:30 P.M. | 2:30 P.M. | |
| TV: FS1 | TV: FOX National | |
| . | . | |
| at Marquette | Providence | |
| Saturday, January 16, 2016 | Wednesday, February 17, 2016 | |
| 2 P.M. | 7 P.M. | |
| TV: FS1 | TV: FS1 | |
| . | . | |
| Georgetown | at Georgetown | |
| Tuesday, January 19, 2016 | Saturday, February 20, 2016 | |
| 8:30 P.M. | 12 P.M. | |
| TV: FS1 | TV: FOX National | |
| . | . | |
| Seton Hall | Villanova | |
| Saturday, January 23, 2016 | Wednesday, February 24, 2016 | |
| 2 P.M | 7:00 P.M. | |
| TV: FSN-Local | TV: FS1 | |
| . | . | |
| at Providence | at Seton Hall | |
| Tuesday, January 26, 2016 | Sunday, February 28, 2016 | |
| 8:30 P.M. | 12:30 P.M. | |
| TV: FS1 | TV: FOX National | |
| . | ||
| at DePaul | ||
| Saturday, January 30, 2016 | ||
| 2 P.M. | ||
| TV: CBSSN |
Let's just take things as they come. First off, that's a brutal opener. Xavier lost to 'Nova by 13, 12, and 17 last season and 23 and 17 the year before. That's a clean 0-5 since joining the Big East by an average of more than 16 points per game. If you had given me a choice of games to open the conference season, at 'Nova at noon would have been my very last choice.
After that, things ease up considerably though. If you assume Cintas will be a fortress and Xavier can handle business on the road against weaker opponents, it's not too much of a stretch to be hoping for six straight wins after that first game. The road is never a given and Butler and Georgetown are not the kind of teams you should overlook, but those are six games that Xavier should win if they fancy themselves serious contenders for the league crown.
The middle of February will be where the conference season is made or broken for X. Five games in fifteen days that kicks off with the always-arduous road trip to Creighton followed by @Butler, Providence, @Georgetown, and Villanova will test the team's mettle and the staff's ability to turn them around and have them ready to play during a repeated stretch of tough games. If Xavier wins three of those five, they should be able to control their own destiny down the stretch.
The TV schedule was good to Xavier fans this year, with the team only twice banished to CBSSN. X also has two FSN-local games, but the rest of the slate features a dozen FS1 dates and two Saturdays in February in which Xavier will play road games on national TV.
There's a lot of ground to cover between now and then, but this announcement has me hyped for conference basketball. What is your early read on the conference schedule for Xavier?