As I drove down I-75 on my way to the Cintas Center, a dense fog descended on the highway.

In retrospect, I guess I should have recognized the fog as a foreboding for what would come to pass at the game, in which UD played well, but not quite well enough, and lost 78-74.

On the way down, however, I was just excited about the opportunity to see the Flyers play outside of UD Arena, and best of all, it was in the arena of our most hated rival, the Musketeers of Xavier. Comparisons were going to commence.

When Ryan (our photographer) and I arrived, things were pretty similar to Dayton. Enter through a door that looks like no one should be going in or out of it, into a room that looks more like a storage area than an entrance. That was more or less where the physical similarities ended.

We walked into the media room to get our food before the game. Like Dayton, Xavier had information on both teams and the conference laid out for anyone who wanted to do some reading. The food was pretty good, too. The Cintas Center was serving City Barbecue last weekend, which was great, even early in the morning. I'm inclined to say it was even better than the Donato's Pizza I get before UD games, but something tells me Xavier stepped it up just a bit because they knew ESPN crews were going to be there.

All that was fine and dandy, but not the reason I drove to Cincinnati. I came for the game. So Ryan and I headed into the arena, which is great. It is not as big as UD Arena, but that is really not important. It was already packed with fans, and you could tell immediately it would be a great place to play some home games. I opened up my computer, watched the players warm up and just enjoyed the energy emanating throughout the building. I knew I had come to a good one.

The Dayton players came out of the tunnel at about the five minute mark, me seeing them for the first time not being led by the cheerleaders or giving the rock to Bucky Bockhorn before going to shoot their layups. Instead, they jogged out to a loud chorus of boos. In case you were wondering, Xavier doesn't like us very much either.

The Xavier players weren't led out by the sprinting cheerleaders and flags. Instead, the Cintas Center dimmed the lights and the team walked down from a corner of the stands, right between two sections of fans, high-fiving along the aisles as they did so. I have to admit, it was pretty cool.

After a national anthem and the two teams staring at each other for about a half second before deciding not to shake hands (me and the guy next to me figured there was no way a handshake would be involved), it came to introductions. Again, Xavier turned off the lights and introduced their players NBA style, with spotlights going all over the place only to land on the starter whose name was being announced.

Then it was game time. Other than the obnoxious shot clock and game clock issues that incessantly interrupted the game, it was great. Both teams were playing pretty well the entire time in my opinion, which is all you can hope for (well, that and a UD win, but beggars can't be choosers).

Once again, I must admit that other than its name (Xavier Nation, very original), the Xavier student section did a pretty good job from an objective standpoint. They had some cool rituals, like throwing up confetti after Dante Jackson hit Xavier's first three-pointer of the game, or doing a dance that looked kind of like The Monkey while the band played a song during one of the media timeouts.

They also did things like Red Scare does, such as sing "Hey Baby" at one point in the game.

I will begrudgingly admit their taunting chants were good as well. The student section called Rob Lowery Whoopi Goldberg when he was shooting foul shots, and then chanted "You can't win here" when the game was finally in hand. The same kind of clever, scathing cheers that Red Scare does all the time. When your team is on the receiving end, though, it manages to be not quite as funny.

As great and as loud as the Cintas Center was (and it was, make sure to see a game there if you can), what I remember most were the shockingly loud cheers for UD when the Flyers made a play. The kind of cheers that are little more than the parents cheering on their sons when teams visit UD Arena. The kind of cheers that you will barely be able to hear when the Musketeers come to town next month.

Call me biased if you want (you'd be right, I am biased), but the Cintas Center, a great venue for some basketball, still doesn't hold a candle to our house.