Cincinnati–Xavier rivalry

Cincinnati–Xavier rivalry

Cincinnati Bearcats Xavier Musketeers
Sport	Football, basketball, others
First meeting	1918

The Cincinnati–Xavier rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and the Xavier University Musketeers. The two schools are separated by less than 3 miles (4.8 km) in Cincinnati, making the archrivalry one of the closest major rivalries in the country. The rivalry dates to their first college football game between the teams in 1918. The first men's college basketball game was played in 1927, which has become the most famous sport in the rivalry, known as the Crosstown Shootout. National outlets cover the game each year, many considering that it is one of the fiercest rivalries in college basketball.^[1] The college football series would run until the Xavier Musketeers football ceased play after their final season in 1973. Many other sports at the universities, such as baseball, also face off annually.

History[]

College Comparison

	Cincinnati	Xavier
Founded	1819	1831
Type	Public	Private
Affiliation	State of Ohio	Catholic (Jesuit)
Conference	American	Big East
Students	44,338	6,798
School colors
Nickname	Bearcats	Musketeers

As the two universities located in Cincinnati, the history between the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University runs deep. Cincinnati itself is the smallest city to be home to two power conference basketball teams. Combined with a metro population of around 2.1 million and the schools being a mere 3 miles apart, the rivalry runs deep for many in the Greater Cincinnati region.^[2] The original contest in the Crosstown Shootout was a much awaited match up between the schools, as Cincinnati helped Xavier dedicate the newly opened Schmidt Fieldhouse in 1928. Over time, the series began to develop an imbalance as Cincinnati became a national powerhouse in basketball and enrollments began to quickly grow compared to Xavier in the 1950s and 60's. However, the "little brother" would knock off UC from time to time in both football and basketball much to the disappointment of the Bearcat faithful. After Xavier shuttered its football program in 1973, the main attention of the rivalry turned to basketball. By the 1990s both teams had become bonafide programs with Xavier knocking off two No. 1 Bearcats teams in series history. Although Cincinnati fans will point to the all-time series dominance, Xavier fans will be quick to retort that the Musketeers have won 12 of the last 18 contests as of 2020.

Football[]

Cincinnati–Xavier football rivalry

Cincinnati Bearcats Xavier Musketeers
Sport	Football
First meeting	December 7, 1918 Cincinnati, 12–0
Latest meeting	September 15, 1973 Cincinnati, 40–7
Statistics
Meetings total	30
All-time series	Cincinnati leads, 18–12
Largest victory	Cincinnati, 42–0 (1970)
Longest win streak	Cincinnati, 4 (1968–1971)

Cincinnati and Xavier would first play in 1918, but the series would not become an annual event until 1946. The game would be played each year at Cincinnati's Nippert Stadium as the venue had a larger capacity to accommodate the cross city showdown compared to Xavier's Corcoran Stadium.

Joseph A. Meyer holds the distinction of coaching both schools in football, but only in the rivalry game once. He would lead to Bearcats to victory over the Musketeers in 1942.

In the 1960s and 1970s Xavier's team experienced a downturn with the Xavier board of trustees finally voting to eliminate the football program, which had caused financial strain on the university after the 1973 season.^[3] At the time of the decision, UC Coach Tony Mason lamented the loss of the series. He compared it to other city rivalries in college football such as the UCLA–USC rivalry and stated, "There's no way to replace that kind of rivalry."^[4]

Notable games[]

October 25, 1947:In a tight game in front of a sold out crowd, the Bearcats managed to scoot by the Musketeers thanks to the fantastic play of halfback Roger Stephens. The Bearcats would win 27–25 and go onto capture the MAC title.^[5]

November 17, 1951: The biggest matchup of the series, over 30,000 fans packed into Nippert Stadium to watch the 9–0 Bearcats take on the 7–0–1 Musketeers. UC would stall three times inside the Musketeer's 20 yard line. After a 98 yard pick six, Xavier would crack the game wide open against Sid Gillman's Bearcats and the Musketeers would be victorious 26–0.^[6]

October 13, 1956: In UC's Homecoming game, Xavier would end up triumphant winning 34–14. Xavier's excited fans would uproot and take UC's goalposts from the field in the post-game excitement. Xavier's student council would later offer $500 to Cincinnati to cover costs.^[7]

September 28, 1968: Xavier entered into the contest as favorites, but the Bearcats were led by the one-two punch of QB Greg Cook and WR/K Jim O'Brien. The Musketeers fought valiantly and the Bearcats only managed to win on a fourth quarter field goal from O'Brien.

Game results[]

Cincinnati victories

Xavier victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 December 7, 1918 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 12–0 2 November 21, 1942 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 9–0 3 November 9, 1946 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 39–0 4 October 25, 1947 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 27–25 5 October 2, 1948 Nippert Stadium Xavier 13–7 6 November 12, 1949 Nippert Stadium Xavier 20–14 7 November 18, 1950 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 33–20 8 November 17, 1951 Nippert Stadium Xavier 26–0 9 October 11, 1952 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 20–13 10 October 17, 1953 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 20–6 11 October 23, 1954 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 33–0 12 October 8, 1955 Nippert Stadium Xavier 37–0 13 October 13, 1956 Nippert Stadium Xavier 34–14 14 October 12, 1957 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 23–14 15 October 11, 1958 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 14–8 16 October 31, 1959 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 28–0 No. Date Location Winner Score 17 October 29, 1960 Nippert Stadium Xavier 5–0 18 October 7, 1961 Nippert Stadium Xavier 17–12 19 November 24, 1962 Nippert Stadium Xavier 7–6 20 October 5, 1963 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 35–22 21 October 10, 1964 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 35–6 22 October 9, 1965 Nippert Stadium Xavier 14–3 23 October 8, 1966 Nippert Stadium Xavier 25–13 24 October 14, 1967 Nippert Stadium Xavier 15–10 25 September 28, 1968 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 17–14 26 October 4, 1969 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 17–14 27 October 10, 1970 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 42–0 28 October 9, 1971 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 10–9 29 September 23, 1972 Nippert Stadium Xavier 19–7 30 September 15, 1973 Nippert Stadium Cincinnati 40–7 Series: Cincinnati leads 18–12

Source^[8][9]

Men's Basketball[]

Women's Basketball[]

Both sides face off to secure the Kendle Cup.^[10] Cincinnati leads the all time series 27–16. Cincinnati has started the latest streak, having won the 3 most recent contests.

Game results[]

Cincinnati victories

Xavier victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 January 16, 1979 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 79–37 2 February 4, 1980 Schmidt Field House Cincinnati 80–54 3 February 18, 1981 Schmidt Field House Cincinnati 82–53 4 January 27, 1982 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 76–67 5 January 26, 1983 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 90–58 6 January 26, 1984 Schmidt Field House Cincinnati 87–76 7 December 28, 1984 Riverfront Coliseum Cincinnati 99–71 8 February 5, 1986 Schmidt Field House Cincinnati 84–74 9 January 28, 1987 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 73–53 10 January 28, 1988 Schmidt Field House Cincinnati 61–39 11 November 30, 1988 Cincinnati Gardens Cincinnati 67–48 12 December 5, 1989 Schmidt Field House Xavier 65–53 13 November 27, 1990 Fifth Third Arena Xavier 60–48 14 January 22, 1992 Schmidt Field House Xavier 73–63 15 February 23, 1993 Fifth Third Arena Xavier 81–48 16 January 18, 1994 Schmidt Field House Xavier 84–68 17 January 30, 1995 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 83–77 18 January 10, 1996 Schmidt Field House Xavier 77–66 19 January 6, 1997 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 83–58 20 January 28, 1998 Schmidt Field House Cincinnati 78–72 21 February 10, 1999 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 65–61OT 22 December 5, 1999 Schmidt Field House Cincinnati 77–712OT No. Date Location Winner Score 23 December 12, 2000 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 75–59 24 December 2, 2001 Cintas Center Cincinnati 62–56 25 December 28, 2002 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 61–56 26 November 30, 2003 Cintas Center Cincinnati 52–41 27 December 11, 2004 Fifth Third Arena Xavier 85–50 28 November 30, 2005 Cintas Center Xavier 87–60 29 January 17, 2007 Fifth Third Arena Xavier 89–76 30 December 1, 2007 Cintas Center Cincinnati 61–55 31 December 7, 2008 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 65–55 32 December 6, 2009 Cintas Center Xavier 69–38 33 December 5, 2010 Fifth Third Arena Xavier 69–61 34 December 4, 2011 Cintas Center Xavier 69–60 35 December 12, 2012 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 67–692OT 36 December 21, 2013 Cintas Center Cincinnati 47–26 37 December 14, 2014 Fifth Third Arena Xavier 72–71 38 December 13, 2015 Cintas Center Xavier 65–56 39 December 11, 2016 Fifth Third Arena Xavier 72–61 40 December 10, 2017 Cintas Center Xavier 53–50 41 December 16, 2018 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 79–61 42 December 14, 2019 Cintas Center Cincinnati 85–78 43 December 12, 2021 Fifth Third Arena Cincinnati 82–73 Series: Cincinnati leads 27–16

Source^[11][12]

Wins by venue[]

Category	Cincinnati	Xavier
Schmidt Field House	7	4
Cincinnati Gardens	2	0
Riverfront Coliseum	4	0
Fifth Third Arena	9	7
Cintas Center	5	5

Baseball[]

Cincinnati leads the all-time series with the Musketeers, 99–58 as of the end of the 2021 season.^[13][14]

Each year since 2008, the teams play in the Joe Nuxhall Classic. This is a regional tournament that takes place between Cincinnati, Xavier, Wright State, and Miami (OH).^[15]

A recent wrinkle added to the college baseball rivalry between the teams, is current Bearcats manager Scott Googins. Googins who was the previous manager of Xavier from 2006–2017, and his arrival to Clifton brought additional attention to the contest.

On May 18, 2019 the teams played their final season game at Great American Ballpark immediately following the Cincinnati Reds game that same day.^[16]

References[]