March 28, 2004. Duke 66-63 Xavier. I’m still not ready to talk about this one.
March 29, 2008. UCLA 76-57 Xavier. This one doesn’t make me that mad. A Xavier team that I loved dearly took me on a great ride, but that UCLA team was loaded with future NBA players. As the man said to Ross Geller, “Sometimes monkeys die.” I’ve made my peace with this game.
March 25, 2017. Gonzaga. Xavier.
The Zags have only lost once this year, earning themselves the one seed the carry into this game. They dispatched South Dakota State in a perfunctory manner in the first round and jumped out to a 22-8 lead on Northwestern in a second round game that was basically over from that point.