Loyola-Chicago Basketball: How the Ramblers reached the Final Four

ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 24: Head coach Porter Moser of the Loyola Ramblers celebrates after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 24, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. Loyola defeated Kansas State 78-62 to advance to the Final Four. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

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ST. LOUIS, MO – MARCH 4: Lucas Williamson /

Preseason expectations

We might not even be having this conversation if it wasn’t for the Wichita State Shockers, who after nearly missing the NCAA Tournament due to the Missouri Valley not being strong enough, elected to depart for the American Athletic Conference. If the assumption was that this was going to be another one-bid season, the Ramblers wouldn’t have made it.

But with them gone, along with the many departures from Illinois State, the MVC was wide-open. Although this team lost leading scorer Milton Doyle due to graduation, the Ramblers brought back everyone else. They were the consensus preseason pick to win the league, including in my own power rankings (please ignore the others on the list).

While the Missouri Valley overall is a respected conference and is ranked in the top-10 by the metrics, it’s getting harder by the day for mid-majors to get at-large bids. With that in mind, it was going to come down to “Arch Madness”, the conference tournament.

With everyone coming back, and a couple of other pieces added, Loyola-Chicago was going to have the target on the team’s backs and had to use their defense to carry to where they wanted to go – the NCAA Tournament.

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