The importance of November

Xavier was the best team in the state last yearRemember the halcyon days of last November? Xavier went 5-1 in the month, beat Ohio State, somehow snuck past Virginia Tech, and only lost to a torrid Iowa State team when half of the Musketeers spent the day vomiting. Remember the nadir of last March? Prior to a lightning NIT run Xavier went 1-2, lost to Butler, and only beat (destroyed, really) a terrible Georgetown team. Still, the Musketeers were on the bubble all the way until the final bracket came out.

The reason that there was still some hope in March, and there was, despite what some naysayers were naysaying, was because of November. That comes down to the scheduling brilliance of Mario…