Xavier’s full non-conference season slate released

The summer is not a great time for college basketball fans (or blog writers). It’s been a long time since the excitement of Xavier’s Sweet 16 win over Arizona and Sean Miller, and even the brief hubbub about Chris Mack and Ohio State has long since died down. Thankfully, real basketball news came out today. Xavier’s full non-conference schedule was released. If you’ve not seen it yet, here it is:

2017-18 Xavier Men’s Basketball Non-Conference Regular Season Schedule

Date Opponent

Friday, Nov. 10 Morehead State (OPENING NIGHT)

Monday, Nov. 13 Rider

Thursday, Nov. 16 at Wisconsin (Gavitt Games)

Monday, Nov. 20 Hampton

Thursday, Nov. 23 Las Vegas Invitational (George Washington, Arizona State or Kansas State)

Friday, Nov. 24 Las Vegas Invitational (George Washington, Arizona State or Kansas State)

Tuesday, Nov. 28 Baylor

Saturday, Dec. 2 Cincinnati

Wednesday, Dec. 6 Kent State

Saturday, Dec. 9 Colorado

Saturday, Dec. 16 East Tennessee State

Tuesday, Dec. 19 Marshall

Friday, Dec. 22 at Northern Iowa

Home games are in bold

The formatting might not be perfect, but you get the idea. Once again, Xavier faces a loaded non-con before the Big East even gets going. Wisconsin and Baylor are probably atop the heap in terms of other power programs on the docket, with UC, Kansas State, and possibly Colorado a tier down. The Las Vegas Invitational is still a bit of a question mark, but it will offer up at least once chance to beat a good team away from home, something Xavier struggled with last season.

Northern Iowa and Kent State are tops amongst the proverbial cupcakes on the schedule, but both are games that Xavier should win if playing like the Musketeers should. Rounding things out are an eclectic mix of the kinds of programs you expect to see early in the year: Rider, ETSU, Marshall, Morehead State, and Hampton. November 10th remains a long way off, but at least there’s something to whet the appetite.