NCAA Tournament: Ranking the unlikeliest Final Four runs since 2000
By Joey Loose
9. 2018 Loyola-Chicago (11-seed)
Before that Final Four run from five seasons ago, few people knew that the Ramblers had been in national contention long before, actually winning the NCAA Tournament way back in 1963. After a few more appearances later in the 60’s, Loyola-Chicago had been a somewhat dormant basketball program for the better part of five decades. Prior to 2018, their only trip to the Big Tourney had been a surprise Sweet Sixteen run in 1985, but this team rewrote all of that history.
In his seventh year at Loyola, Porter Moser finally had his breakthrough year with the Ramblers. The program had joined the MVC five years prior but this was finally their year in the league, winning the regular season and league titles and getting to the Big Dance for the first time in 33 years. At that point, it was pretty rare to see Loyola finish above .500 multiple times, but Moser and company weren’t satisfied just making the Big Dance.
Their Tournament run was immortalized by the actions of Sister Jean, the Catholic Nun who serves as their team’s chaplain, who could be seen cheering for the Ramblers at all of their Tournament games, and it truly took acts of God to get them to the Final Four. The Ramblers hit last second shots to upset 6-seed Miami and 3-seed Tennessee and hit another clutch shot late in a crazy Sweet Sixteen game against 7-seed Nevada. They were thrown a bone in the Elite Eight and made quicker work of 9-seed Kansas State, pulling away for a 16-point victory and advancing to their second ever Final Four.
The Ramblers’ run is a mixed bag for a multitude of reasons. This team was strong throughout conference play and you can argue was better than the 11-seed they were given. Additionally, it took good fortune for game-winning shots from Donte Ingram and Clayton Custer to fall in the initial rounds. The Ramblers upset a relatively strong 3-seed in Tennessee, but avoided the other Top 5 seeds on their run, getting the 7 and 9 in the second weekend, making their run much easier than it could have been. The story of those Ramblers even five years later still remains amazing, and they hung with Michigan for part of that Final Four game.