Xavier-Cincinnati 'Crosstown Shootout' Has Lost a Lot of Sparkle

When I first moved to the Cincinnati area (which, by the way, was exactly one decade ago today), I would be told that the Xavier-Cincinnati basketball rivalry was up there with Duke-UNC. I just moved from Charlotte and shot that down immediately.

It is a neat little rivalry that has fallen on some hard times. The event that once gripped the city has turned into a oh-that's-coming up game. It is coming up this Saturday.

So, wha' happened?

Obviously the fall of the Cincinnati Bearcats has contributed to this. The game used to feature a ranked Bearcats team versus the mid-major Muskies who are known to come up and bite you every once in a while. The Bearcats were a polarizing team that you either loved or hated; Xavier doesn't own that level of love or hate -- even from Cats fans. To outsiders, it was a matchup of the thuggish Bearcats and the small Jesuit school.
There was also actual hatred between the two programs. Bob Huggins and Pete Gillen famously didn't get along. Skip Prosser did a lot to get the two sides friendly again and Huggins dismissal has pretty much taken away the villain of the series. There really is no bad blood anymore.

You could say that this is all Cincinnati's fault. Huggins' absence has been a huge reason why the rivalry seems lacking. The fact that the Bearcats now play in the Big East and fans get to see some of the top teams in the country come visiting takes away from the magnitude of the game and forces it to be played earlier in the season. This year, Bearcat fans are football crazy as their team will be in the Orange Bowl next month.

Xavier is now the top-10 team who is coming off an appearance in the Elite Eight. The Musketeers are the best basketball team in town with the better arena and dominating a second-tier conference. Still, it is very rare to hear any Xavier talk in a town filled with the sorry Reds, sorry Bengals and a Orange Bowl bound Bearcats.

It should be a pretty good game. Xavier is the better squad but Cincinnati is getting better. The game will be play at Cincinnati's Fifth/Third Arena and should be filled with rabid Bearcats fans.

That is, the ones who aren't saving their money for a holiday trip to Miami.