Loyola Ends Long NCAA Tournament Drought

ST. LOUIS, MO - The Loyola University Chicago men's basketball team will compete in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in more than 30 years. The Ramblers beat Illinois State in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game on Sunday to clinch their first March Madness berth since 1985, which was shortly after the tournament's field expanded to 64 teams.

Loyola will enter the tournament a week-and-a-half from now with a 28-5 overall record. They won the MVC regular season title and followed it up with a dominating performance in the conference tournament that sealed the school's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in 33 years. A 65-49 win over the Redbirds on Sunday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis made them the third team to officially qualify for the tournament this year.

Donte Ingram had 18 points to lead the Ramblers past Illinois State, while Cameron Krutwig also reached double figures with 11. Loyola jumped out to a 36-27 lead at halftime and never looked back.

Loyola's long-awaited postseason appearance will have some calling them a Cinderella possibility and intriguing story-line nationally. They'll likely be the only team from Illinois represented in the 68-team tournament and the first Chicago school to make it in several years.

Longtime sports fans and/or historians remember the Cinderella Loyola team from 1963 that won the NCAA Tournament. That squad remains the only team from Chicago to win the March Madness tournament in its history.

Among the Ramblers' biggest fans is a 98-year-old nun whose often seen on the sidelines. Sister Jean Dolores Schmidtis the team's chaplain and has been known to help the players prepare for who to watch on opposing teams. Her story was told in an in-depth feature by ESPN last year.

This year, most analysts see the Ramblers getting either a No. 11 or No. 12 seed in the NCAA Tournament when the selections are announced next week.

With fans of other top state programs like Illinois, Northwestern and DePaul having to pick another team to root for in March yet again, the Ramblers are likely to gain a lot more temporary fans in the week heading up to their first March Madness game since 1985.

It will be quite the challenge for the Ramblers to match what they did in 1985, however. That team won two games in the tournament, reaching the Sweet 16 before falling to eventual national runner-up Georgetown that year.

What else happened in 1985?

• The Bears were the best team in the NFL, going 15-1 in the regular season and winning Super Bowl XX
• Michael Jordan was named the NBA Rookie of the Year after his first season with the Bulls
• The first Back to the Future movie was released
• A gallon of gas went for about $1.09
• Ronald Reagan was inaugurated for his second term as U.S. President.
• Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union

Loyola players celebrate beating Illinois State to win the championship of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, Sunday, March 4, 2018, in St. Louis. Loyola beat Illinois State 65-49 to win the championship and secure an automatic bid to the NCAA mens basketball tournament. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)