Xavier's basketball Musketeers may find little consolation in having come within just four points of the university's first Final Four ever. That's understandable. When you get so close to knocking off powerhouse Duke and advancing to one of the sports world's premier showcases, every little "what if?" during the game must loom larger.

But Sunday's heartbreaking 66-63 loss to Duke shouldn't take the luster off Xavier's marvelous, magical run through the NCAA tournament, in which the underrated Musketeers outlasted several more highly touted teams, reached the school's first regional basketball final - and earned an "elite" label bound to reap dividends for the team and the university.

Along the way, XU took care of Louisville, then Mississippi State, then Texas. "I don't know if there's a team left that's had a tougher run than we have," Xavier coach Thad Matta said Friday after his team's 79-71 victory against Texas.

The players, the university and our entire community can feel good about what will be remembered as Xavier's best season to date, at least tournament-wise. Midway through the season, few expected the Muskies to even make the 65-team tournament field. But during the last two months, the team began to click. They played smart, with great confidence. With senior leadership from Romain Sato, Lionel Chalmers and Anthony Myles, they seemed virtually unbeatable. They began turning heads when they clobbered previously unbeaten St. Joseph's in an Atlantic 10 tournament game that wasn't nearly as close as the 20-point margin.

Xavier's next task might be finding a way to keep Matta. In his 30s and just in his third season as head coach, Matta brought his team into focus and had them just a few ticks from the Final Four. His marketability, and his attractiveness to big schools with coaching vacancies, must be high. Like ex-X men Pete Gillen and Skip Prosser before him, he will be wooed.

But right now, it's a time to congratulate the Musketeers and celebrate what the team's tournament run has meant. It should provide a real boost for Xavier, raising the university's national profile further - and helping with its recruiting and fund-raising. That will benefit Xavier students, athletes and scholars, down the road.

"To get to this point, 'proud' is the only word I can think of," Matta said.

He's not alone.