There is a long interminable stretch between college basketball season. Last year’s season ended with a tournament notable for its mere existence and a fun new format. Basketball had returned to March and April, to games played on the screen while a spring breeze drifted through windows opened to a more hopeful cold, to fanbases starved to see their team playing when it mattered again, even if that wasn’t in person.
Xavier was not one of those teams. For three straight years now the Musketeers have not played an NCAA tournament game. Their last game was a gut punch from which the program has not completely recovered.