With wins on Saturday, Loyola Chicago and Michigan punched tickets to the Final Four in San Antonio. Those two teams represent something bigger than themselves in this tournament. Loyola is the face of every Cinderella. Michigan was good all season, but is the poster child for peaking at the right time.
The other side of the bracket features blue bloods and top seeds. Before those games take place on Sunday, let’s evaluate the biggest takeaways from Saturday.
1. Loyola’s story rolls on to the Final Four
I watched Loyola Chicago win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament with ease and saw enough from the Ramblers to predict they’d reach the Sweet Sixteen. Few, if any, saw this team reaching the Final Four. Even their team chaplain, Sister Jean, had them failing to reach the Elite Eight in her bracket.
The Ramblers have defied all the odds winning four games thus far in the NCAA Tournament. Loyola won its first three tournament games by a combined four points, but had no trouble on Saturday. The Ramblers beat Kansas State handily, thanks in large part to 6 of 7 shooting from outside by Ben Richardson. Loyola recorded 17 assists on 27 total field goals, again looking like the most patient and efficient team in the entire bracket.
2. Score another one for the little guys
Loyola’s run matters for more than just the Ramblers and their fans. Another Cinderella in the Final Four means a lot to college basketball. This is now consecutive seasons with a mid-major program in the Final Four, following Gonzaga last season. Loyola is the sixth non-power conference team to reach the semifinals since 2010.
Even more impressively, Loyola is the highest seed, as an 11, to advance this far since VCU in 2011. We have, however, seen a plethora of high seeds make tournament runs in the last few seasons. In just the last five tournaments, six teams seeded seven or worse have made the Final Four.
We all know March is full of madness, yet we seem to forget when filling out our bracket each year. A Final Four team from outside the top 25 seeds is more than a yearly occurrence.
3. Michigan stays hot with effective offense
There were questions about whether teams from the Big Ten would be ready for the Big Dance, with their conference tournament ending a full week before Selection Sunday. Michigan has responded loud and clear that no amount of time off could slow the Wolverines’ momentum.
Big Blue has won 13 straight games, dating back to February 11. That streak includes the Big Ten Tournament and four games in the NCAA Tournament. While Michigan has been dominant on defense all year long, this winning streak has been sparked by effective offense. The Wolverines are shooting 39 percent from outside in those 13 games and posting 15 assists per game over that stretch.
4. John Beilein demands your respect
College basketball fans and pundits love to praise coaches who inspire teams to runs every March. Tom Izzo, Coach K, and Jim Boeheim are always the first names who come up, yet John Beilein has put his name at the forefront in recent years.
Michigan in the last six years has made the Sweet Sixteen four times, the Elite Eight three times, and the Final Four twice. Quietly, this has become one of the best programs in college basketball. That six-year period also includes two Big Ten Tournament titles and one Big Ten regular season championship.
Beilein has this Michigan team peaking at the right time and has a great shot at his first ever national championship.
5. Michigan has chance to end Big Ten title drought
If Michigan can win the national championship, it would end one of the most inexplicable streaks currently active in college basketball. Despite being home to some of the nation’s best programs and constantly placing teams in the Final Four, no team has won a national championship as a member of the Big Ten since Michigan State in 2000.
Since that championship, the conference has appeared in the national final, but Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin have all come just one game shy of cutting down the nets.
This Wolverine team can snap one of sports’ most coincidental oddities and finally give the midwest another basketball title.
Shane McNichol covers college basketball and the NBA for Larry Brown Sports. He also blogs about basketball at Palestra Back and has contributed to Rush The Court, ESPN.com, and USA Today Sports Weekly. Follow him on Twitter @OnTheShaneTrain.
