NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University
of Louisiana has won another online poll championship.
XULA collected 76.9 percent of 1,227 votes over five rounds Feb. 8-25
on
T3 Bracketology's Twitter page. The poll question:
"Which HBCU's basketball arena environment is best?"
XULA plays its home basketball, volleyball and
competitive cheer contests in the Convocation Center,
a campus arena that seats nearly 4,000 and opened in 2012. Multiple visiting coaches
have favorably compared the Convocation Center to facilities at NCAA Division I mid-major schools.
XULA outpolled seven schools in T3 Bracketology's poll, including SWAC
members Jackson State, Prairie View A&M, Grambling and Alabama State. Here are XULA's
round-by-round results in that contest:
•
Round of 64: XULA received 50-of-65 votes
— 76.9 percent — to defeat Jackson State (nine votes, 13.8 percent), Tuskegee (four votes, 6.2 percent)
and Huston-Tillotson (two votes, 3.1 percent).
•
Round of 16: XULA
(91 votes, 86.7 percent) defeated Prairie View (14 votes, 13.3 percent).
•
Quarterfinals: XULA
(370 votes, 93 percent) defeated Grambling (28 votes, seven percent).
•
Semifinals: XULA
(69 votes, 76.7 percent) defeated Alabama State (21 votes, 23.3 percent).
•
Championship: XULA
(363 votes, 63.8 percent) defeated Kentucky State (206 votes, 36.2 percent). Voting
in this round lasted 72 hours and concluded at 8:30 a.m. CST Thursday.
The victory is XULA's third online in the past 12 months. During the spring XULA men's
basketball won a 32-team HBCU fantasy basketball tournament
conducted by Black College Sports Network, and the women's doubles team of
Angela Charles-Alfred and
Lailaa Bashir won the women's title in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's Top Moments of 2019-20 Bracket Challenge.
Charles-Alfred and Bashir's top moment on-court was winning NAIA and ITA Cup Small College national championships during the fall of 2019.
XULA has won 17-of-19 rounds in online voting during the past 12 months.
"Xavier is grateful to have awesome constituents who are ready,
willing and able to vote," said
Ed Cassiere, XULA's associate athletics director
for strategic communications. "It's been a fun and spectacular run online these past 12 months."
