The Crosstown Shootout is an annual men's college basketball game played between the University of Cincinnati Bearcats and Xavier University Musketeers. The two schools are separated by in Cincinnati, making the archrivalry one of the closest major rivalries in the country. The game was first played in 1927, and has been played every year since 1946. In recent years, the game has been sponsored by Skyline Chili.
Throughout its history, the game has been played at six different venues including the Armory Fieldhouse and Fifth Third Arena on the UC campus; and the Schmidt Field House and Cintas Center on the Xavier campus. However, the majority of the games have been played at two other sites—Cincinnati Gardens and US Bank Arena. The Gardens has served as the regular home court for both schools at different times, and was even shared by both teams from 1987 to 1989. US Bank Arena was UC's home court from 1976 to 1987 when it was known as Riverfront Coliseum.
From 1989 to 2011, the game alternated between the schools' on-campus arenas. After the 2011 Crosstown Shootout brawl at the Cintas Center, the series was moved to US Bank Arena as a neutral site for two seasons before resuming as an on-campus series.
History
The history of the Crosstown Shootout dates back to 1928, when the University of Cincinnati helped St. Xavier College dedicate its brand new, $350,000 Schmidt Fieldhouse, which had a capacity of 4,500. Xavier won the game, 29–25, and the two teams didn't meet again until the 1942–43 season. The teams began playing on an annual basis starting in 1945–46, and from 1948 to 1958, they played each other twice a year.
One unique aspect is player and coach Tay Baker, who was a player and longtime assistant at Cincinnati before taking over as Head Coach from 1965 to 1972. After resigning from UC with a 125–60 record, Baker moved across town where he coached Xavier from 1973 to 1979.
The rivalry between Cincinnati and Xavier is regarded as one of the best in the game. The two schools' short distance apart has distinguished it as a proximity rivalry. From 1990 through 2011 and again since 2015, the game alternates between Xavier's and Cincinnati's campus arenas on a yearly basis. ESPN's Jay Bilas was quoted as saying, "Cincinnati and Xavier have created a rivalry that is unparalleled when it comes to outright passion and civic division."
In 1990 a local TV station refused to interrupt their coverage of the Cincinnati–Xavier game for the 1990 State of the Union address.
The game is widely regarded as one of the hottest tickets in Cincinnati every year. The game is also regularly attended by local legends and sports icons Pete Rose and basketball great and former Bearcat Oscar Robertson.
2011 brawl and changes
The 2011 game, a 76–53 Xavier victory, was disrupted at the end by a bench-clearing brawl. As a result of this brawl, Cincinnati and Xavier suspended 4 players each for a various number of games. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported on May 22, 2012, that due to the brawl, the game would be held at U.S. Bank Arena for the next two seasons. The continuation of the series beyond the 2013–14 season would depend on the behavior of the players and fans. On June 14, 2012, both schools held a joint press conference at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center announcing that the annual rivalry will now be called "Skyline Chili Crosstown Classic."
On May 13, 2014, after a two-year series at U.S. Bank Arena, the two rivals announced at a joint press conference that they would return to playing their annual men's basketball game on-campus, ditching the moniker of Classic in the process and returning the series to its previous name of the Skyline Crosstown Shootout. The agreement for the alternating home-and-home series was for ten years. The first game of the resumed series was held on February 18, 2015, during ESPN's Rivalry Week when Xavier hosted Cincinnati on December 12, 2015, at the Cintas Center.
Crosstown "Tipoff" In 2021 during the coronavirus pandemic fans competed to leave bigger tips for restaurant workers in a "Crosstown tipoff", a nod to the annual shootout, starting with a tip of $1000 on a $54 carryout order at Zip's Cafe in early January 2021 and accompanied by a note reading "Go Xavier!" UC fans responded with tips of increasing size, and fans of both teams bid up the largest tips; by early February $2000 tips were received at a downtown Skyline Chili and an Oakley pub and a $2500 tip was left at a Loveland tavern, all in support of UC. WKRC estimated that by early February there had been more than $25,000 in tips over $1000, along with many tips over $100, in support of both teams.