Where do Xavier Musketeers stand in the latest NCAA tournament bracketology?

NEW YORK CITY − A season littered with “what ifs?” » The moments continued for Xavier in Manhattan on Wednesday evening.

The Musketeers blew a 16-point second-half lead against No. 20 St. John’s at Madison Square Garden before finally falling 79-71 in overtime.

It was a loss that followed a similar storyline. Xavier proved he could compete against some of the best teams in the country. Sealing the deal at a critical time is another story.

“They (Xavier) were the better team,” St. John’s head coach Rick Pitino said after the game.

As Xavier knows very well, sometimes the best team doesn’t win. For Xavier, it was another heartbreaking defeat when he was on the verge of a signature victory.

“By the way, against Marquette, which we just won, we did the same thing. We just held on,” Xavier head coach Sean Miller said of his team’s previous upset against the Golden Eagles. “For some reason we can’t do better in this area.”

A win against St. John’s would have allowed Xavier to walk hand in hand with the NCAA tournament bubble. Instead, there is ground to make up.

It’s the nature of the business. With Selection Sunday 52 days away, conversations about March Madness are starting to heat up. Where does Xavier stand at 12-8 overall (4-5 Big East)?

What are Xavier’s chances of making the NCAA Tournament?

Xavier ranks 53rd in the rankings NCAA NET Rankingswhich is one of the key resources used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee to determine which teams will participate in the dance.

Of course, the top 68 teams in the NET do not make up the NCAA Tournament bracket. Xavier is now 1-6 in the all-important Quadrant 1 category and 4-2 in Quadrant 2 contests.

According to TeamRankings.comXavier has a 31.2% chance of making the NCAA tournament.

Xavier could receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden. It’s quite difficult to say that Xavier could run the table, however, with the Musketeers sitting in seventh place in the Big East.

The most likely way to get the Musketeers to March Madness is with an at-large bid (25.2% chance).

What do bracketologists say?

Before Wednesday’s overtime loss, Xavier was included in the “Next Four Out” of ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. It should be noted that the UC Bearcats were part of the “First Four Out”.

Mike DeCourcy of Fox Sports had a better outlook in his Wednesday afternoon update, citing Xavier as one of the last four teams to participate in the tournament. DeCourcy had Xavier as the No. 11 seed playing at SMU in the First four.

DRatings.com, a sports ratings, predictions and analysis websitelisted Xavier as one of its “next four outs” in a Tuesday update and projects the Musketeers as the No. 2 seed in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT). Xavier lost in the first round of the NIT last season and won the tournament in 2022.

Is Xavier missing opportunities to make up ground in pursuit of the NCAA Tournament?

There are no off nights in the Big East, but some wins ultimately carry more weight than others.

Xavier is in the middle of one of the most difficult periods of the season. Next up is No. 19 UConn at Cintas Center on Saturday, followed by a road matchup against Creighton. UConn is currently No. 34 in the NCAA NET rankings, making Saturday’s game fall into the Quadrant 2 category. Of course, if UConn improves to finish the year, it could move into Quadrant 1. The journey of Xavier in Omaha to face Creighton on January 29 is a quadrant 1.

After that, Xavier will have just one game left (March 1 against Creighton) against the top four teams in the Big East.

Xavier’s NCAA Tournament chances could depend on its final two matchups in January. The schedule softens in February and Xavier has fewer opportunities to gain ground.

This article originally appeared on the Cincinnati Enquirer: Where does Xavier stand in the latest NCAA tournament bracketology?