By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

College basketball fans and media alike consider the Crosstown Shootout to be one of the most entertaining rivalries, which is why ESPN naturally wants the game moved from December to February, making it part of the network's "Rivalry Week" programming.

"It makes sense because it puts the game on a higher platform with other rivalries," said Xavier athletic director Mike Bobinski. "With television's influence, we're headed in that direction."

That type of a shift would give the game a similar spotlight as Duke vs. North Carolina, Syracuse vs. Georgetown and Missouri vs. Kansas, all part of "Rivalry Week" last season, from Feb. 3-9.

"We've talked with ESPN, and that's what we're working toward," said UC athletic director Bob Goin.

Xavier and Cincinnati have played the last three Crosstown Shootouts in mid-December, during college football season. Last year's game televised by ESPN tipped off at 4 p.m. Dec. 7, the same day as championship football games in the Big 12 and Southeastern Conferences, as well as the Army-Navy and Miami-Virginia Tech football games.

But moving the annual bragging-rights game between UC and Xavier is more complicated than just switching two dates.

The schools played each other in December because they are nonconference foes. Scheduling the game in February disrupts the conference season, which runs from January to March. That is why five of the past six Shootouts have been played in November or December.

The one Shootout that wasn't played early in the last six years occurred during the 1998-99 season. The teams met for a night game Jan. 28, 1999, at Cincinnati, an 87-77 UC win. Two days later, Xavier had to travel to Dayton for an afternoon game, losing 91-86. Having to play two games of such magnitude so close together squashed the idea of holding the Shootout in the middle of the conference season until now.

"The idea makes sense for ESPN," said ESPN communications manager Josh Krulewitz. "It's one of the best rivalries in college basketball."

To make a late-season game possible, the Atlantic 10 (XU) and Conference USA (UC) schedules have to be accommodating so there are no games right before or right after the Shootout.

"We cleared it on our end," A-10 associate commissioner Steve Hurlbut said.

Krulewitz said no final decisions have been made, and it's too early to know the game's time and date.