Loyola-Chicago Basketball: Head coach Porter Moser on Ramblers’ Final 4 run

Fans get excited about Cinderella runs in March, but what do mid-major coaches think about mid-major teams in the Final Four? I talked to Loyola-Chicago’s Porter Moser, to find out.

For fans, whether they are the casual March Madness type or diehards that follow the sport 24/7/365, one of the best parts about March basketball is the Cinderella runs made by the schools you wouldn’t expect to be playing deep into the tournament. While fun, for the most part, fans seem to view these occurrences more as an anomaly than something we should come to expect.

Some might be surprised to learn that, beginning with the 2005-06 season a team most would label as a mid-major has reached the Final Four six times, beginning with George Mason in that 2006 season and most recently, two seasons ago when Loyola-Chicago and Sister Jean took the tournament by storm, reaching the national semifinals.

In between those appearances, as a member of the Horizon League with now Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, Butler made back-to-back appearances in the national title game in 2010 and 2011. Also, in 2011, VCU with Shaka Smart went from the First Four to the Final Four and two years later, Gregg Marshall led Wichita State to Final Four in Atlanta.

From the fans’ perspective, these runs are entertaining to the point you may find yourself a bottle of nerves on every possession, even if you don’t have a dog in the fight. But what is it like if you are the guy leading the team? I had the chance to talk to Loyola-Chicago head coach Porter Moser about different aspects of a final four run and what he thinks about this trend that began with George Mason.