Sleeping with the Enemy: The Musketeers of Xavier

Ahoy! Your Nationally Ranked Powerhouse Fighting Hoyas of Georgetown are getting ready for battle with the irritating Musketeers of Xavier and as usual we here at THE GLOBAL PHENOMENON are bringing you everything you need to know about Georgetown's next opponent.  Here with us is our good buddy from the Queen City Banners on the Parkway, your source for all of your Xavier needs.  When you're done reading this opus, check out Casual Answers to their questions HERE.  Let's do this!

Xavier, Round 2? Isn't it weird that we're playing you guys for a second time when we haven't played other Big East teams even once?

Yes, it is weird. I absolutely love the double round robin format to the conference, but I think it would be even cooler if there was two parts to conference play. Every team plays every other team one time in part one. Then we know exactly how we all stand at the "halfway" point. But alas, this does not happen and Xavier has already finished playing DePaul and is about to finish playing your Hoyas.

The Muskies thoroughly dominated the Hoyas in our first go-around. What did you take away from that matchup that gives you hope for a similar result here?

The biggest thing that I am hoping to see in round two is a second half offense explosion. Xavier has possibly the top offense in the conference, so I am hoping to see Xavier fire from all cylinders again. Also X shot 50% from behind the arc that game, so of course I would love to see that again. We live and die with our offense this year, and that gives me hope in round two.

Who thought it was a good idea to put the skyline of Cincinnati on the court of the Cintas Center? Do some folks think that skyline is remotely recognizabe by anyone outside the city?

It seems to be the trend in much of the country right now to do a skyline motif on the court. Our neighbors up in Cleveland even have the Cleveland skyline on their court. Over the last three or four years the administration has built up a reputation of botching decisions, so I'm not even sure of who to put the blame on.

Now for the recognizable factor. Is it distinct outside of Cincinnati? No, not at all. Cincy does not have a famous skyline, so we do not expect people to recognize it. Personally I am not a fan of the court design, but it has less to do with the city and more to do with me not being a fan of this trend. Keep it simple with a classy X in the middle. The Big East wordmark in each lane does enough talking for us.

Is the following correct? Xavier fans and Cincinnati fans root against one another but everyone in Ohio loves Ohio State football.

Fair assumption, but it is not quite true. Cincinnati seems to exist in it's own state almost. Sure there are Ohio State fans, but the buckeyes do not have as big of a presence in the Queen City at all. UC has some fans, but there really is no truly dominate college football team in the city. The Xavier community makes it even more eclectic because a lot of people come to the city for college and stay afterwards, so driving around Hyde Park you will literally see a row of houses with UC flags, Michigan flags, and Notre Dame flags (I know this because I just saw it in December).

There is also plenty of support for the Bungals, but I would prefer that we not bring them up until September.

It looks like you won't be able to relax at all down the stretch since Xavier has all the makings of a Bubble team come March. Do you think the Muskies end up making the Dance? You're welcome for that 'impressive win' so far on your resume, by the way.

No sleep till NYC. Right now Xavier is 4-4 in conference play. They have managed to be undefeated at home and rotten on the road. I still absolutely think that Xavier is going to make the tournament with the strength of the conference and some impressive wins, such as the New Years Eve game (thank you), but they have to start winning road games if they want to not be in a play-in game. It's going to be interesting to see how the strength of the Big East helps Xavier's tournament chances. Back in the day's of the A-10, a 4-4 conference record at this point almost guaranteed that you were not making the dance.

In his spare time, Matt Stainbrook is an Uber driver. What do you do in your spare time?

I like to paint and take long walks on the moonlit beach. No, I always try to keep in shape by running, so I try to do that most days of the week. I wish my spare time was as money making, but I also help out with my church's youth group and I am slowly but surely learning the craft of post-college cooking.

Flatter us for a moment - what impresses you the most about this Georgetown team?

Y'all destroyed Villanova last week. On a basic level, that absolutely impressed me the most and made me suddenly nervous for this game.

I am also impressed with your young guys. There are so many younger players that are making a big splash for the Hoyas and that's going to bode well in the future.

(Casual Note: Don't patronize me, jerkface.)

Final score prediction?

I always try to be an optimist and pick Xavier to win games, but I'm just not seeing it this time. We have yet to win a Big East game on the road so I'm going to go with Georgetown 65 Xavier 59.