Xavier Makes Loud Statement That It's a Legit Title Threat with Nova Payback Win

Normally a middling seed considered an X-factor in the NCAA tournament, the X-Men are suddenly front and center among the top candidates to win the whole enchilada.

No. 5 Xavier has made quite a few statements this season, but none have been bigger or more important than Wednesday night's 90-83 win over No. 1 Villanova.

We expected the Musketeers to be competitive in the first battle between these Big East rivals. Xavier entered that New Year's Eve showdown ranked No. 6 in the nation with a 12-0 record, but things quickly turned sour when freshman point guard Edmond Sumner took a terrifying tumble just two minutes into the game. Not only did the Musketeers lose arguably their best player, but the remaining guys were visibly and understandably shaken in what turned into a 95-64 rout for then-No. 16 Villanova.

But we finally got to see what this team can do at full strength against the Wildcats, and it was pretty scary in its own right.

Serving up a hearty dish of poetic justice, Sumner was the star of the game with 19 points, nine assists, six rebounds and a good number of smiles. As you might expect, this one meant a little something extra to him, and ESPN's Jeff Goodman and Dana O'Neil took notice:

This wasn't just retribution for one game, though. As ESPN's Jeff Borzello pointed out on Twitter just before the game tipped off, Villanova had owned the Musketeers since they joined the Big East. Nova was 6-0 in those games by a combined 103-point margin of victory.

Plain and simple, beating Villanova was a monkey Xavier had to get off its back to be taken seriously as a title contender. After all, how can you be the country's best team if you can't even pretend to argue you're the best team in your own conference?

It was a win that will instill an enormous amount of confidence both internally and externally, but it was also a much-needed victory for Xavier's tournament resume.

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

We already had the Musketeers projected for a No. 1 seed before this game began, but their profile was lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. They only had one RPI Top 25 win—albeit a 29-point, neutral-court shellacking of Dayton back in November—so one of the biggest things going for them was few losses.

They did enter Wednesday night with three consecutive double-digit triumphs over Butler, Providence and Georgetown, but Villanova was the win they needed to cement their spot on the top line. And the Musketeers finally bolstered their three-loss resume with a monumental win, or as Kami Mattioli of Sporting News put it: "A damn good feather for Xavier to have in its cap come (Selection Sunday)."

A testament to how unpredictable the 2015-16 season has been at times, a team that was on just four of the 65 preseason AP Top 25 ballots, per CollegePollTracker.com, is now "a road win over Seton Hall" away from entering March as the projected No. 2 overall seed.

This is the point in the program when the skeptics will likely point out at least one No. 1 seed has failed to reach the Sweet 16 in each of the past three tournaments, and most everyone expects this will be one of the wildest and craziest tournaments of all time.

John Minchillo/Associated Press

However, Xavier deserves much, much more respect than that flippant dismissal.

If Kanye West were to evaluate this team, he might say the Muskeeters play harder, better, faster and stronger than every other team in the country. They simply have the know-how and desire to crash the glass, push the tempo and avoid stupid fouls—each of which goes a long way this year.

And while this isn't a roster littered with future NBA All-Stars—Sumner is probably the only one even remotely likely to play in the NBA one day—the Musketeers aren't exactly a ragtag bunch of misfits, either.

Hardly anyone knew the name James Farr four months ago, but alongside Jalen Reynolds, he's now one-half of the country's most unstoppable frontcourt platoon. And, no, I didn't forget about Purdue's A.J. Hammons and Isaac Haas or North Carolina's Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks. Farr and Reynolds are playing that well.

Heck, when J.P. Macura is playing like he did against Villanova (19 points and three steals), there's a pretty strong case to be made that Xavier has one of the country's best backcourts, too. Myles Davis—who recorded a triple-double against Providence one week ago—has been outstanding more often than not, and Remy Abell provides even more veteran leadership for the younger Sumner and Macura.

And whether you want to classify him as a guard or forward, Trevon Bluiett is probably Xavier's best candidate for Big East Player of the Year.

I'm not saying he deserves to be in consideration for a lottery pick, but what do you think of this comparison between Bluiett and the stretch 4 from Duke who might be the No. 1 pick in June?

Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	3P%	O-Rating	D-Rating
Brandon Ingram	20.3	8.1	2.3	1.3	40.8	116.6	101.8
Trevon Bluiett	20.0	8.6	3.0	1.4	38.2	117.1	96.0

The Musketeers are loaded with talent. They just haven't had many opportunities to showcase it. But in what felt like a must-win game with the whole world watching, they brought the goods.

Whether the selection committee ultimately awards Xavier a No. 1 seed, the X-Men are officially a force to be reckoned with in the NCAA tournament.

Kerry Miller covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter at @kerrancejames.