Somehow, the regular season is over yet. When this game is done, Xavier, and the rest of the basketball world, enter a series of knockout games. Lose in the Big East tournament and you won’t take home the title that has eluded X so far. Lose in the next one and the season is over. One final test remains, though. Xavier is playing this one to protect seeding. Butler is playing it for pride.
Butler has been bad this year. They will be either eighth or ninth in the upcoming BET. It doesn’t really matter which, because those two teams will play each other for the chance to play Marquette.