Xavier University is a small Jesuit Catholic school in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its student enrollment is under 7,000, less than a sixth of the city’s big public school, the University of Cincinnati. It hasn’t had a football team since 1973, plays only a handful of intercollegiate sports, and most often is nationally recognized for one thing: men’s basketball.

But wow — is it ever known for that right now.

The Musketeers are the dream team of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Division I Men’s Basketball Championships. The bracket-busters entered Thursday night’s Sweet 16 showdown against Arizona as an 11-seed, making it a significant underdog to the second-seeded Wildcats.

But the Musketeers achieved a 73-71 victory, sending them to an Elite Eight matchup against another Jesuit school, top-seeded Gonzaga of Spokane, Washington. (March Madness trivia: Gonzaga’s mascot is a bulldog and its players are unofficially nicknamed “Zags.”)

But Xavier has been an underdog every step of the way in this tournament, so it would be foolish to count them out. Here’s a few reasons:

They Have Bill Murray in Their Corner… Who knows the term “Cinderella story” better than Murray, who popularized the term in a hilarious scene from the classic comedy “Caddyshack”? Murray’s son, Luke, is an assistant coach for the Musketeers, and the actor was in the stands to cheer on the team over the Wildcats Thursday night. If you’re going to win for someone, who better than one of America’s favorite actors?

It doesn’t hurt that Murray is having one heck of stretch lately when it comes to sports. The lifelong Chicago Cubs fan cheered his beloved team to a World Series championship in November — ending a 108-year drought for the Cubs.

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…Along with a Really Awesome Nun. After Xavier’s win on Thursday, Murray was caught on camera celebrating with Sister Rose Ann Fleming, a 77-year-old nun who travels with the team and is considered a good luck charm.

Fleming even wrote a book in 2014 about her experiences, “Out of Habit: My Life as Xavier University’s Unlikely Point Guard.” Fleming, an academic juggernaut (she holds two master’s degrees, an MBA, a doctorate, and a law degree), made it her life’s mission to educate athletes who need help navigating the school’s strict academic standards.

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She created XU’s academic advising program for athletes, and her success is apparent: Since 1986, Xavier has graduated every single senior men’s basketball player.

The 5-foot-4, 100-pound nun even has her own bobblehead. Thursday night, as Fleming and Murray cheered the Musketeers, Murray was caught on camera playfully mussing her hair. Good luck finding a cuter couple in collegiate sports.

Xavier Actually Has a Shot. We’re not saying Gonzaga is anything but a strong favorite. It has one of the strongest programs in college basketball, having made the NCAA Tournament 19 straight times. It’s only lost once all year in either regular season or post-season play — a 79-71 loss to visiting BYU back on Feb. 25.

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The Zags also won the past three times that these programs have faced each other, following a Xavier win in the programs’ only other matchup, back in 2006. Xavier didn’t even win its conference, losing in the Big East semifinals.

But just like Xavier (24-13), Gonzaga (35-1) has never made it to the Final Four — so one of them will make program history on Saturday. And despite being an 11-seed in this year’s tourney, courtesy of a late-season six-game losing streak, the Musketeers are playing great basketball right now. They’re 6-1 since that slump, including upset wins over Maryland and Florida State before taking down Arizona.

Xavier has a solid record of delivering great men’s basketball. It’s not a perennial superpower, but it’s made the Sweet 16 eight times since 1990 and is playing in the Elite Eight for the third time since 2004.

It will be a big challenge to finally reach the Final Four by delivering the Zags only their second loss this year, but when you have Bill Murray and Sister Fleming in your corner, anything’s possible.

Update: Gonzaga, looking every bit the first seed, triumphed over Xavier, 83-59, and became the first team to gain a Final Four birth.