Can Cincinnati Bearcats basketball win a close game vs. Xavier in Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout?

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Mathematicians aren’t necessarily suited to draw up a proper out-of-bounds play in a tight basketball game, but given time can give you the probability of its success. From a statistical point-of-view, Saturday’s Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout is the 92nd such match-up of two institutions separated by approximately four miles.

Xavier’s Musketeers won the first contest over the Cincinnati Bearcats in 1928 in Schmidt Fieldhouse, then the teams didn’t play for 15 years. It became a seasonal occurrence in 1946. In four seasons (1950-51, 1952-52, 1957-58 and 1959-1960) the Bearcats and Muskies actually met twice. Starting with UC’s 1961 national championship campaign it’s been a once-per-season affair with UC winning 51 of the 91 played.

From February 1957 to March 1967, UC won 12 straight. Then, from February 1972 to February 1979, they won eight straight.

Former Xavier coach Skip Prosser (left) and former UC coach Bob Huggins were actually friendly combatants in the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout. Here they share time at a Reds game vs. Cleveland in 1999. Prosser’s 1996 team knocked off the No. 1 Bearcats of Huggins which began a turn of the tide in the series for Xavier.

Xavier has flipped script in recent years

Starting with Bob Staak in the 1980s, then Pete Gillen, Skip Prosser, Chris Mack, Thad Matta, Travis Steele and Sean Miller (twice), D’Artagnan’s men in Muskie blue began beating the Bearcat red and black. Even Naismith Hall of Fame coach Bob Huggins was 8-8 against Xavier. Everyone leading the Bearcats since has been below .500.

If you follow trends, Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout has trended blue

Objectively and mathematically speaking, the numbers say Xavier’s won five straight. To extrapolate from there, UC’s dropped nine of 11 to Xavier, 14 of the last 20 and 20 of the last 28 games. For a better perspective, you can look at the Bearcats losses in 1996 and 1999 as turning points.

In both years, the Bearcats were the top-ranked team in the nation. In 1996, that…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/cincinnati-bearcats-basketball-win-close-180407089.html

Author : Cincinnati.com | The Enquirer

Publish date : 2024-12-13 18:04:00

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