The First Four offers a nice showcase for Xavier, one of the last teams to make the March Madness field ahead of teams like West Virginia, who arguably had a better case for inclusion than the Musketeers. A closer look at the X-men, however, showed a team that more than held its own in Big East play with wins over fellow tournament teams like Marquette, UCONN, and Creighton.
The NET rankings were skewed against the Big East, turning the latter two wins into Quad 2 victories on the Musketeers' profile, which made their 1-9 mark against Quad 1 opponents a bit misleading. With some top talent like forward Zach Freemantle and guard Dayvion McKnight, Sean Miller's team has the capability to score a big upset or two to bust some brackets in the NCAA Tournament.
After North Carolina's statement win against San Diego State on Tuesday night, the Musketeers will look to prove the committee right by taking down Texas in the late game here. A win would set up Xavier for a Friday night clash against Illinois in a 6-11 matchup in Milwaukee.
Where is Xavier located?
Xavier is a Jesuit University based in Cincinnati, Ohio that is the fourth-oldest Jesuit University and sixth-oldest Catholic university in the United States. Just under 5,700 students are enrolled full-time at Xavier, which is renowned for its business programs at the Williams College Of Business.
Other academic areas of emphasis at Xavier include nursing, professional sciences and arts and science. The Musketeers' athletic programs compete in the Big East conference, which they joined in 2013 after a long-time membership in the Atlantic 10. 16 varsity teams are sponsored at Xavier, including men's and women's basketball, track and field, men's and women's soccer, and baseball.
Xavier Musketeers' NCAA Tournament History
Year | Seed | Result |
|---|---|---|
1961 | N/A | First Round |
1983 | 12 | Preliminary Round |
1986 | 12 | First Round |
1987 | 13 | Second Round |
1988 | 11 | First Round |
1989 | 14 | First Round |
1990 | 6 | Sweet 16 |
1991 | 14 | Second Round |
1993 | 9 | Second Round |
1995 | 11 | First Round |
1997 | 7 | Second Round |
1998 | 6 | First Round |
2001 | 11 | First Round |
2002 | 7 | Second Round |
2003 | 3 | Second Round |
2004 | 7 | Elite Eight |
2006 | 14 | First Round |
2007 | 9 | Second Round |
2008 | 3 | Elite Eight |
2009 | 4 | Sweet 16 |
2010 | 6 | Sweet 16 |
2011 | 6 | First Round |
2012 | 10 | Sweet 16 |
2014 | 12 | First Four |
2015 | 6 | Sweet 16 |
2016 | 2 | Second Round |
2017 | 11 | Elite Eight |
2018 | 1 | Second Round |
2023 | 3 | Sweet 16 |
2025 | 11 | TBD |
The Musketeers became March Madness regulars in the 1980s when they kicked off a run of seven straight NCAA Tournament appearances between 1986 and 1991. The high-water mark in terms of seeding was a 6 in 1990, which they rode to the Sweet 16.
The 1990s saw a bunch of early exits for Xavier but the 2000s saw the program take another leap forward, reaching their first Elite Eight in 2004 as a 7-seed before falling to a Duke team that reached the national championship game. The Musketeers also made Elite Eight runs in 2008 (when they were a 3-seed and fell to 1-seed UCLA) and 2017 (when their Cinderella run as an 11-seed included upsets of Maryland, Florida State and Arizona before getting blown out by eventual national runner-up Gonzaga).
The highest seed Xavier has ever achieved was a 1-seed in 2018 on a team led by Trevon Blueitt and future NBA star Naji Marshall. That run ended in disappointment, however, as the X-men were upset by 9-seed Florida State in the Round of 32.