• 9 p.m. today • TV: ESPN • Live TotalCast • UC: WLW (700) • XU: WKRC (550)

        It's just a college basketball game, really. Or is it?

        Take away the hoopla and hype, the luncheons and receptions, the fanatical fans and talk radio. Strip tonight's Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout down to its core, and what's left is an unpredictable, highly charged showdown between the city's two Division I men's basketball programs: the University of Cincinnati and Xavier University.

        Of course, all of that is what makes the annual meeting between the rivals the local event of the winter.

        There are no NBA or NHL teams here. The Reds are in their offseason and the Bengals have not been a playoff contender in a decade.

        The Crosstown Shootout is a fixture in Cincinnati's sports history and captivates the city for days lead ing up the game. It unites fans who love college hoops and divides those with passionate loyalties.

        The game has been billed as David vs. Goliath, Catholic School vs. Public School, Good vs. Evil.

        “I go to vote this year and the guy who's taking my ballot says, "I root for you, Coach, every game but one,'” Xavier coach Skip Prosser said. “It's pervasive. You can't escape it.”

        “It's fun for the fans,” UC coach Bob Huggins said. “If I were a fan, it'd be fun for me, too.”

        What makes this game special?

        • Skyline Chili is in its 14th year of sponsoring the Shootout. Officials from both schools point to the Cincinnati-based institution as a key to the growth of the event. Tom Allen, Skyline's vice president of marketing, said the company spends $50,000 to $150,000 in advertising each year on the game, and each of the past five years has sold about 15,000 specially designed basketballs. “We've been paring back some of our event spending,” Allen said. “(The Shootout) is the one thing we protect.”

        • The community embraces the Shootout and wants to participate. The host university typically receives as many as 10 calls from student groups or outside groups interested in doing something in conjunction with the game.

        Offshoots of the Shootout include the Crosstown Help-out, sponsored by both university's alumni associations, which signs up volunteers to go to neighborhood schools and assist with maintenance projects. There is the Crosstown Spirit Challenge, a fund-raiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association sponsored by both schools' stu dent governments. And there is the Crosstown Shoutout, a serious speaking competition between students from each school, now in its fourth year.

        • The first Crosstown Shootout luncheon 10 years ago drew fewer than 250 people at the Omni Netherland Plaza, said Don Schumacher, who then was executive director of the Greater Cincinnati Sports and Events Commission that put on the luncheon. Today's Crosstown Shootout luncheon at the Cincinnati Convention Center is expected to draw about 1,000 fans.

        • Busken Bakery is holding its Crosstown Shootout cookie poll for the fourth year, asking customers to buy iced cookies for their chosen schools (decorated with a red UC or blue XU) to determine a winner. As of Wednesday afternoon, UC was ahead 434-275. Xavier won last year.

        • At a Sunday Mass attended by Prosser just before the Jan.28, 1999, Shootout, the priest mentioned it would be a fitting tribute to the Holy Trinity if XU were to beat Cincinnati a third straight time. It didn't; the Bearcats won 87-77.

        • Players who have had a major impact on the Shootout will never be forgotten in this town. Lenny Brown (XU, November 1996), Jamal Walker (XU, 1990), Joe Stiffend (UC, 1987) and John Zeides (XU, 1968) all assured themselves a place in history with game-winning shots. Some longtime UC fans remain so bitter about a wine bottle being thrown from the stands toward Oscar Robertson in 1958 they still refuse to attend the Shootout. UC fans also won't forget Xavier's Joe Pangrazio grabbing a crutch from the stands and trying to hit Bearcat Raleigh Wynn. And, of course, there is the non-handshake between Huggins and Pete Gillen in 1994.

        • Though fans remain true to their schools, this is a game to which ticket holders invite their rivals. For instance, Jack Brown, president of UCATS, UC's support organization, attends the games with Xavier president Father James Hoff. Dick Friedman, special assistant to UC president Joseph Steger, attends the games with Tim Burke, co-chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party and a 1970 XU graduate.

        When Burke attended Xavier from 1966-70, it was during a period when Cincinnati won 13 of 14 games against the Musketeers.

        “It was a frustrating time, but you still got up for that game,” Burke said. “And if we just played (them) close, we were doing well. I remember one year, hundreds of us (students) walking from campus all the way to Cincinnati Gardens and back because somebody decided that was a good thing to do to show the spirit behind Xavier.

        “From my first week on campus, it was drilled into you that nothing else in sports mattered except the Xavier-UC game, and that was at a time when we still had football. For Xavier, it was the be-all and end-all of the basketball season. I think it's always been an absolutely all-consuming, intense rivalry.”

        There you have it.

Big stakes, big reward in Shootout SULLIVAN: Tickets few, hard to find Fanaticism, new events spring from UC-XU rivalry Satterfield pivotal for UC Who will be the rising star? Each team's keys to winning Who's got the edge? Highlights of recent Shootouts Holley leaves UC women's team UC's Ruffin named AP All-American

Jackson, Mitchell see what young Bengals don't
Roman to get 1st start at corner
No sellout, TV expected
Jaguars' Taylor limited by leg injury
City submits Olympic bid
Where Olympic events would be held
Four annual festivals would precede Games
Georgetown back in NAIA title game
Boys basketball schedule
Girls basketball schedule
Reds get new groundskeeper
Reds will hold tryout camp