Xavier Clinches Share of Big East Regular Season Title

Step aside, Villanova, Xavier is the new king of the Big East….at least for now.

For the first time in its newer existence, the Big East has a regular-season champion NOT named Villanova. Xavier got 23 points from All-American candidate Trevon Bluiett and took care of visiting Providence, 84-74, Wednesday night at the Cintas Center. The victory clinched at least a share of the Big East regular season title for the Musketeers, who joined the league in 2013.

Since the conference underwent a massive rebuild five years ago, no team other than Villanova has claimed a Big East regular-season title. The Wildcats, who beat Xavier twice by a combined 40 points, currently trail the Musketeers by a game in the standings. With one game to play, those two losses make up two-thirds of the conference defeats for Chris Mack’s team. Just thinking about how Villanova has always dominated the new-look Big East by winning title after title, the fact they might not is insane. And to think that in the two matchups this year, Villanova dominated and still won’t win is just the madness March brings to the table.

Still, you get the sense that in order for Xavier to truly solidify its claim of being the Big East’s new top dog, they need to knock off Villanova next week at Madison Square Garden during the conference tournament. The Wildcats have owned the Musketeers since the two became conference foes, winning 10 of 11 meetings. Nine of those 10 victories have been by double-digits. The Wildcats have always had the X-men’s number, but I personally believe that if Xavier keeps rolling like they are now, they take home the crown.