Xavier's experience puts them in elite company this year

Thanks to the good folks at barttorvik.com - which may well just be Bart himself - we can take a look at how many minutes each team in the country is bringing back from last season. Thanks to someone on Reddit who has since deleted his/her account, we can also get a quick look at how your Xavier Musketeers stack up nationally. To wit:

Pending changes that might still happen in rosters around the country, Xavier is 3rd in the nation in returning minutes among high-major schools and 39th overall. That's a far cry from the situation Travis Steele has been accustomed to, ranking 223rd, 114th, and 195th in minutes continuity his first three years at the helm. Much has been made if how Steele needs time to implement his system on both ends of the floor, and a lack of continuity has been cited as a reason for the mediocre results so far in his tenure.

Xavier is one of four Big East teams bringing back more than 75% of their minutes this season, joining Butler (94%), UConn (79%), and Villanova (75.1%). Of course, bringing back big minutes doesn't necessarily equate with being good, as Butler has pretty much everyone returning and is still projected to go .500 and finish outside the top 50. Xavier, Nova, and UConn are all projected between 13 and 17 in the Torvik rankings though.

Of those, Xavier is on top for now. After three long years in the wilderness, everything is lining up for the Muskies to contend for the top of the league and make a deep run in March. It's do-or-die time for the Steele Era.