NFL Tickets
TV Schedule: Saturday, Dec. 12, 5:30 p.m. ET, Fox
Arena: Cintas Center, Cincinnati, OH
The two best college basketball teams in Cincinnati face off on Saturday afternoon, as the No. 23 Cincinnati Bearcats travel to play the No. 12 Xavier Musketeers at the Cintas Center.
The Bearcats have a great win over the George Washington Colonials, but their resume is clearly lacking wins it comes to marquee wins. At 7-1, their lone defeat was just over a week ago to the Butler Bulldogs in which they lost by two points, 86-84. Disappointed but not on the downswing by any means, a win over their undefeated in-city rivals would be massive in terms of momentum moving forward.
On the other hand, the 9-0 Musketeers will want to continue their rise in the national rankings in the hopes of entering conference play in the top 10. Xavier survived a difficult stretch where they faced the Alabama Crimson Tide, USC Trojans and Dayton Flyers consecutively with impressive double-digit victories. Personally, their performance during that stretch was enough to convince me that this team is the real deal and a legitimate threat to win the Big East.
The Bearcats pride themselves on stout defense, while the Musketeers pride themselves on one of the best offenses in the country from top to bottom. These are two extremely similar and talented teams who we could very well see face off against in March. If the game was at Cincinnati I would give this one to the Bearcats, but because it’s at Xavier I’m picking the Musketeers in the best game of the day.
Prediction: Xavier 70, Cincinnati 68
Taylor Sturm is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @TSturmRS, like him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
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