Last time these two met, it was a top 10 matchup. Now it's a top 25 matchup as Xavier has held serve but Providence is struggling to find purchase entering the home stretch.
The top of the Big East has sorted itself out nicely this year, with Xavier and Villanova putting a gap between themselves and the rest of the league (and Nova having put a sizeable space between themselves and Xavier). An optimist sees Xavier as having won 6 of their last 7 and cruising towards a protected seed in the NCAA tournament. A pessimist sees Xavier coming off a split in the last week and having played one good game in the last two weeks.