Bracketology 2021: Arizona State and Cincinnati highlight biggest losers

Loyola-Chicago Ramblers

The Ramblers are likely going to find themselves on the bubble at some point this year. They are one of if not the best team in the Valley and are going to finish near the top of the Missouri Valley.

Given all of that, the Ramblers missed a great opportunity to find pad their resume and get two huge wins to help improve their standing selection Sunday. Loyola-Chicago did not pass the test this week and is going to go to have to rely on winning the conference tournament if they want to receive a bid come selection Sunday.

The Ramblers first headed to Madison, Wisconsin to take on a loaded Badger team. Loyola-Chicago was outmatched the whole game and ended up losing by 14. Loyola-Chicago did not shoot the ball well that night and the talent discrepancy was too much to overcome. Then came the game on Friday night. The Ramblers got a home game against the Richmond Spiders.

Richmond is one of the best teams in the country and they are a tough matchup for anyone. Loyola-Chicago fought hard and gave Richmond everything they had but in the end, a 15-point half-time deficit was too much to overcome and the Ramblers lost the game by two points.

Those losses are not going to hurt the Ramblers’ overall resume, those teams are a loss that a lot of teams are going to have. What it does do is leave Loyola-Chicago with only one viable option. They have virtually no margin for error, and their resume is three wins against sub-275 teams and two losses against top 50 teams.

The only way the Ramblers make the tournament at this point is to win the Valley or at the very least lose very few games in the league and even then it may not be enough for an at-large bid.