Previews in the paint: Xavier Musketeers

After a season filled with ups (#8 national ranking at one point) and downs (the brawl to end them all in the Crosstown Shootout), the Musketeers are entering what many might call a "rebuilding year," basically a euphemism for "Just don't embarrass us, please."

Coach Mack loses Tu Holloway and Kenny Frease to graduation, Mark Lyons to Arizona, and Dezmine Wells to sexual assault charges. That's 77.5 percent of Xavier's scoring, 69.1 percent of its rebounding, 85.0 percent of its assists, 76.6 percent of its made field goals, and 69.4 percent of the team's total minutes played.

How does a program recover from such a purging?

Coach Mack says that the squad will have to move away from relying on the few and focus more on the unit.

Transfer Isaiah Philmore and freshman Semaj Christon will bring fresh talent to the Musketeers' squad, but three veterans still remain in Cincinnati. Guard Brad Redford (3.3 ppg, 11.4 mpg), forward Jeff Robinson (3.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg), and forward Travis Taylor (4.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg) will have to build the team's core. Redmond is considered one of the best pure shooters in the country, but the former Mr. Basketball in Michigan only played seven scoreless minutes in Xavier's three NCAA tournament games last season.

Taylor showed great play during non-conference matchups last year, but was largely irrelevant in the A-10 season (6.8 ppg and 6 rebounds against non-conference teams, a tough schedule for Xavier, but only 4.2 and 2.9 in the A-10).

Xavier's extreme loss of talent makes Philmore's arrival the brightest spot of the 2012-2013 campaign.  Transferring from Townson University in Maryland, he lead the Tigers in scoring with 15.3 ppg and was second in rebounding (7.0 rpg) as a sophomore.  Standing at six feet, eight inches, Philmore will earn minutes quickly because of his ability to create mismatches.

Semaj Christian is a local player who many feel should step in and run the point, but Mack seems determined that sophomore Dee Davis will control Xavier's backcourt.

Given the rebuilding job ahead, the always tough non-conference schedule (Butler, a non-conference game schedule before the move to the A-10, Cincinnati, Purdue, Wake Forest, and Tennessee, among others this season) is not going to play in the Musketeers' favor.

This is the first season in some time that Xavier fans will not have a star to entrust with the game: no Tu Holloway, no Jordan Crawford, not Derrick Brown, etc. The Atlantic-10 is stronger than ever, and it is likely Xavier will find a home in the middle of the pack. 

Despite all the challenges ahead, it's important to remember that Xavier has found a way into the NCAA Tournament 11 time in the past 12 years.

Previews in the paint: UC Bearcats

Ladies and gentlemen, we are just 10 days away from the silver lining of a Cincinnati winter: college basketball. The Musketeers tip off against Farleigh Dickinson at home on Nov. 9, with Coach Chris Mack attempts to rebuild a program riddled with transfers. The larger hope for the Queen City, for a change, lies with the Bearcats, as UC takes the floor against Tennessee-Martin on Nov. 11 in Fifth-Third Arena.

With a slough of Midwestern teams rounding out the national polls (Indiana, Louisville, Kentucky, Ohio State, and Michigan filling the top five spots in both the AP and the USA Today rankings), it's easy to be excited for the region. Even closer to home, though, the Bearcats have made their national claim in the AP Top 25 with a No. 24 ranking.

ESPN also places UC in the No. 24 slot, likely with recognition of UC's postseason surprise in 2012, a Sweet Sixteen run that ended to with a loss to a fellow Buckeye public school, Ohio State. The Bearcats return three starters from that squad, a trio of guards that can rival almost any D-I program's backcourt. Sean Kilpatrick, Cashmere Wright, and JaQuon Parker all are extremely talented ball-handers who can shoot the lights out (all three averaged over 10 points per game last season--well, 9.4 for Parker, but close enough).

The largest concern for the Bearcats will be the absence of Yancy Gates, who controlled the post extremely well (and dropped Xavier's Kenny Frease in one punch, but that's not necessarily a stat Coach Mick Cronin is trying to replace). Gates averaged 8.9 rebounds and 12.2 points per game last season, a big hole to fill, but Cronin has the option to deploy Cheikh Mbodj, Justin Jackson, and David Nyarsuk in his place. Mbodj and Jackson each had significant playing time last year, while the junior transfer Nyarsuk, from Mountain State, is a "dunking machine," according to ESPN.

Cincinnati should walk over teams their first four games (Tennessee-Martin, Mississippi Valley State, North Carolina A&T, and Campbell) until meeting Iowa State and then #18 UNLV or Oregon in the Global Sports Invitational.

The Bearcats were selected in the Big East preseason coaches' poll to finish fourth (1. Louisville, 2. Syracuse, 3. Notre Dame), Cincinnati's highest preseason conference ranking ever. Many feel the Bearcats are severely underestimated, though, and see them as the dark horse who could spoil it all.