Xavier Musketeers
Xavier embraces doubters once again
By Paul Dehner Jr., CNATI.com Posted March 18, 2010 4:30 PM ET
MILWAUKEE - When the Glantz-Culver betting line on the Xavier-Minnesota first-round game first came out, the sixth-seeded Musketeers opened as a slight underdog to the 11th-seeded Golden Gophers.
Late Thursday, it moved to a pick 'em. Of all the six seeds, Xavier was the only team not favored.
These types of numbers have little bearing on the results of any game, much less one of this magnitude. The mere mentioning of lines - or even office pools - can make a coach start running down the compliance rulebook in his head.
So, not surprisingly, nobody called Xavier coach Chris Mack to see if he knew. Nobody slipped it out in passing while walking the back hallways of the Bradley Center.
Nobody needed to.
"Nobody has mentioned it, but I am very well aware of it," the first-year coach said. "It is surprising, but not disheartening. There have been games before where we have been underdogs. It's alright, Xavier has played before with a chip on its shoulder for the last 25 years and we will continue to do that."
Doubts play out as a common theme this time of year around the Xavier program. The Musketeers field questions about schedule. They field questions about the Atlantic 10 not being a power conference. They field questions about disrespect.
They answer with wins.
The Musketeers left the first round victorious six of the last seven seasons and each of the last three years. In 2008, they advanced to the Elite 8; last year the Sweet 16.
Only seven other schools in the country moved beyond the regional site each of the last two years. Yet, seeded five spots ahead of a team that finished 9-9 in the Big 10, the Musketeers receive the credit of a team happy to be here.
"That is something we feel like we always have to play for," sophomore Brad Redford said. "We have to play for that respect. But we can't take teams in the past that have done well in the NCAA tournament. This is our team, tomorrow is a different game. We have to make our own history."
Coincidentally, inside the Xavier locker room in Milwaukee a common belief why this program is 10-6 in its last 16 NCAA tournament games stems from those which came before.
Even with a new coach, new leading scorer and without the three top players from last year's team, a constant of this system remains. Tradition fuels confidence. Tradition silences the doubters.
"You look at our older players, they are a major reason as to why that success continues," said Mack, a product of the tradition now himself. "Guys like Mark Lyons now, guys like Brad Redford, they become juniors and seniors, they have seen what it is like to be on a team that wins, that gets to the NCAA tournament. That keeps getting passed on and they are very well aware of that tradition."
Senior Jason Love, now the winningest player in Xavier history, attributes the consistency of tournament success to the defensive system.
"Every year defense is going to get you far in this tournament," Love said.
Terrell Holloway, the quiet, confident point guard directs attention to the long list of talented players cycling through the Cintas Center.
"There is a reason why we won four straight Atlantic 10 championships," he said.
All of it combines to form what those inside the program refer to as "The Xavier Way."
That way involves fighting a lack of respect every season on the difficult journey maneuvering through a non-BCS conference to some of the biggest stages college basketball has to offer.
Disrespected? Doubted?
Well, it's a symptom of the Xavier way.
So, with all apologies to Rodney Dangerfield, what does the program have to do to get a little respect around here?
"You got to win," Mack said. "That is what we are looking to do."
Categories: College, Featured Stories, Men's Basketball, News, Xavier Musketeers
Tags: Brad Redford, Chris Mack, Jason Love, Terrell Holloway, Xavier
Comments (0)