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

When was the toughest point of the season?

With only five losses on the season, there certainly weren’t many points of agony for the team. But that doesn’t mean that adversity didn’t hit them.

After a spectacular non-conference win, the Ramblers were riding high, with hopes of an at-large bid now a realistic possibility. But they may have looked ahead of conference play, and fell by 17 points on the road to Milwaukee, a Horizon League team that finished under .500 for the season.

The funk from that loss seemed to affect them for a bit, losing two of their first three MVC games. While the defense playing well, the offense failed to carry its weight, failing to make it to 60 points. Opposing teams seemed to be playing up to the perceived favorites of the league.

The three losses in the four-game span had a huge impact, all but eliminating them from the at-large discussion. After making the Final Four, many have questioned why Loyola-Chicago wasn’t a likely at-large team in the first place.

Problem is, the Ramblers had what would be considered four bad losses compared to just one quality win. The blowout loss to the Broncos didn’t help their case either. But by them handling their business in the conference tournament, that discussion didn’t need to be had.