Xavier beats Cincinnati, is good enough to play in the Final Four

Let’s run through Xavier’s resume before we get into Saturday’s win over Cincinnati.

• Xavier is 10-0 with nine double-digit wins.
• Xavier beat Michigan on the road by 16 points.
• Xavier beat Alabama by 19 points.
• Xavier beat USC by 10 points.
• Xavier beat Dayton by 29 points.
• Xavier beat Cincinnati by 10 points.

So to summarize, the Musketeers already have double-digit wins over a Big Ten team, an SEC team, a Pac-12 team, an Atlantic 10 team and an AAC team. And it’s only Dec. 12.

They should probably be the Big East favorites, at this point, because Chris Mack has a surprisingly great basketball team. To be clear, I thought they’d be good. Don’t get it twisted. But I didn’t anticipate this. And by this, I mean a legit Final Four contender.

Xavier handled Cincinnati basically from the opening tip until the final horn on Saturday.

They led by 18 and won by double-digits.

Each time the Bearcats made a run, Xavier countered — sometimes with plays like this …

Edmond Sumner GET UP! HUGE slam for @XavierMBB #CrosstownShootout https://t.co/tcAAJyYZJL

— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) December 13, 2015

Edmond Sumner, that freshman guard, finished with 11 points, five assists and three steals. Myles Davis added 17 points on a 7-of-10 shooting performance.

Is Xavier as good as last season’s Duke team?

Or last season’s Wisconsin team?

Or last season’s Kentucky team?

No. No. And … no.

But here’s the good news: You don’t have to be that good to be great this season because nobody is that good this season. So keep an eye on the Musketeers. I don’t know that they have any future lottery picks. But I do know that they’re good enough to play in April.