That's the right way to think.

trying to ingratiate myself to both sides of the rivalry as much as I can here.

But I think Xavier's on a great trajectory in year two.

I think Richard Pitino properly knew first year was going to be a little bit of a trial by fire, maybe a bit of a mess because he got in late, didn't really have the NIL funds to build the roster the way maybe he wanted.

but he got some young guys that he could experiment with and see who is actually going to be a building block, and then some fifth-year veterans to just kind of try to remain respectable and, of course, beat Cincinnati.

But figuring out who to retain and who to go into the portal and try to fix, I think he did a really nice job.

I like the size of the roster.

as somebody that covers all these teams every day during the season, I like that we're looking forward to some things this year.