Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in

CINCINNATI -- Last season, the Xavier Musketeers were a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and had some pundits listing them among the Final Four favorites.That was March. National recognition in November is something new on Victory Parkway.Xavier, which opens the regular season against Lehigh on Friday (7 p.m.) at Cintas Center, is ranked No. 7 in the preseason Associated Press poll, the highest preseason rating in school history.The Musketeers highest previous ranking in the preseason was 10th in 1997-98 and 2002-03. However, coach Chris Mack said he is not concerned about his players absorbing that praise.I dont worry about the attention, Mack said. It helps that people talk about you. It helps in recruiting. I know fans get excited. But, its really about what we do between the lines. I do think we have some older players that are used to having a businesslike attitude.It helps to have the top two scorers returning, junior guard Trevon Bluiett (15.1 points per game) and sophomore guard Edmond Sumner (11.0 ppg).Bluiett lost around 20 pounds during the summer to become quicker and more athletic to the rim.Sumner missed three games last season with a head injury but still compiled 112 assists. He is poised for a huge year, one that could propel him up the NBA Draft ladder.Both Bluiett and Sumner were named preseason first-team All-Big East Conference. Junior guard J.P. Macura, the Big Easts sixth man of the year last season, also returns.The Musketeers will be without a couple of key contributors on Friday. Sophomore forward Kaiser Gates is out with a knee injury, and senior guard Myles Davis is suspended due to allegations in an ongoing domestic-violence case.Xavier, which was ranked ninth in the final AP poll last year, is picked to finish second in the Big East behind defending national champion Villanova. Still, the Musketeers arent thinking too highly of themselves.We dont really focus too much on preseason rankings, Macura said. Last year we werent ranked (in the preseason) and we had a great season. We just have to take every day, practice with energy, and everything else will take care of itself.The Friday game is Xaviers first since losing to Wisconsin on a buzzer-beater in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, a defeat that took months for the Musketeers to move past.Xavier wont look past Lehigh on Friday, though. As Sumner said earlier this week, the Mountain Hawks are not a slouch.Xavier is 2-0 all-time against Lehigh, including a narrow 69-63 win in 2004. This season, the Hawks are a near-unanimous favorite to win the Patriot League title, receiving all but three first-place votes. Senior forward Tim Kempton, a two-time Patriot League player of the year, is picked to win it for a third time. Junior guard Kahron Ross is a first-team all-league selection.Lehigh returns its top four scorers from last years squad that won 11 consecutive games before losing a heartbreaker in the Patriot League championship game.I think this team learned a lot from going through the journey last season, said coach Brett Reed, who is in his 10th season as Lehighs head coach. They are hungry for a new opportunity. However, they will need to take the lessons learned and apply them this upcoming year if were going to be even stronger, which will be needed to win a championship. Cheap Tigers Jerseys . Brad Jacobs and his Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., team took control of the game early. Detroit Tigers Shirts . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. https://www.cheaptigers.com/ . Duchene scored two goals and had an assist, helping the Colorado Avalanche beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 on Friday night to match the best 10-game start in team history. Detroit Tigers Gear . The news was first reported on Gonzalezs Twitter account and confirmed by the Rockies. Gonzalez has a six-week window before position players have their first workout at spring training in Arizona. Detroit Tigers Store . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. Greeny and Golic welcome ESPN Deportes Fernando Palomo (6:45 a.m. ET), The Undefeateds Domonique Foxworth (7:30), ESPN NFL analyst Herm Edwards (8:00), CNN correspondent Nick Paton Walsh (9:00) and UFC President Dana White (9:30) to the show on Friday.Get in touch with Mike & Mike by emailing (mikeandmiike@espnradio.ddddddddddddcom) or tweeting (@MikeAndMike) the guys -- we will be with you from 6-10 a.m. ET. Follow all of the action on ESPN2, ESPN Radio and ESPNRadio.com. ' ' '