Currently sitting at 12-7 and on a role at 5-1 in the MVC. They played a challenging pre conference schedule especially considering they lost three key upperclassmen to graduation and Lucas Williamson was injured. They are again looking like the class of the conference. There is no way they make the tournament without winning the MVC tourney as they just couldn't pull of a signature win. However, now they are healthy and there freshman are starting to fit in supportive roles.

I think they will end up back in the tournament this year. Back to back appearances would be a huge achievement for a team that hadn't made it in decades and had stepped up to a more difficult conference.

This is Chicago's only realistic representative in March Madness.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Maybe. They really are not that good.

You shoot your whore mouth. They are gonna make some noise and the games have been great in person.

_________________

I’m in. I didn’t spend $20 on a final four ramblers shirt for nothing.

Hook a brother up and bump this thread when an important game is on. Don’t care enough to look myself til March.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Seen them twice already since the Bulis are so dysfunctional. And DePaul has been uninspiring.

_________________
There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

How's the new DePaul arena?

_________________
Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

Looks like DePaul may have found some money to spread around. Their incoming class is ranked 17 and they poached the Jacobs kid from Kansas.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Looks interesting...on tv.

_________________
There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

If they can close this time.

_________________
There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Kansas Backed out on him after he verbally comitted a few years ago. They didn't want him. I think he was injured the other day. Hope its not serious.

He is a really good get for Depaul. Leitao is lowkey putting something together. The loss of Strus after the season will hurt though.

_________________

put a star next to the @ Illinois State game on February 2. ISU is in third place. They played Loyola very tight in their game in Chicago a few weeks ago. It seems to be budding into a rivalry.

a week later on February 10 @Valpo. These are the top two teams in the conference (right now). Loyola destroyed the Crusaders at Gentile earlier in the year so this is really a must win for Valpo if it hopes to win the regular season title and its guarantee of a post season

MVC is only sending one team to the tournament this year so Arch Madness in St. Louis really is the only thing that matters.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Time to forget about them again

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Oh, thought you had gone to some games.

_________________
Sherman remarked, "Well, Grant, we've had the devil's own day, haven't we?" Grant looked up. "Yes," he replied, followed by a puff. "Yes. Lick 'em tomorrow, though."

_________________

Not over yet though. We got this in March. Maybe they are a postseason team like the Warriors and are cruising til then.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

like I said, only one team is going to the tournament from the MVC so the MVC tournament is really all that matters

Loyola does have some senior leadership in Custer and Townes. Everyone after that is freshman and sophomores. You will get inconsistent play without the upperclassmen leadership. You will especially get those kind of clunkers on the road. That's what you saw tonight (also Mo St shot out of their minds from 3 pt).

Big picture: everyone else at the top of the league also lost last night so Loyola is still in first place. They still have an excellent chance to get to the tournament. However, they have too many losses and so, will end up getting a game against a 1-2 seed, rather than a 4-5 seed which means they will be one and done. One year ago, just getting into the tournament was a big deal. Expectations have changed

I didn't pay attention to those things in basketball but I read that the line dropped from something like 6.5 tp 2.5 so someone obviously knew Mo St would be game last night

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

by the way, if anyone is really interested in deeper rambler talk http://www.ramblermania.net/ is a good site.

I don't post there, just lurk. They are more into it than I am.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I was at Dick's Sporting Goods before xmas and they had a rack of those shirts for 25 cents each. I would have figured they would have air dropped those things in Ethiopia by now.

_________________

dude, you gotta wait out the market. I bought a F4 Ramblers shirt in August for $5 at Dicks.

_________________

they've always had the money, but now they finally got some kids to accept. Word is they outbid Louisville by $100,000 when trying to land Bowen a couple years ago, but $100k extra wasn't enough to beat out the Cards who offered $100k.

_________________

good place to see a game, horrible place to try and walk around the concourse or try and exit the parking lot after a game. Highly recommend taking some form of public transportation or Uber if you go.

_________________

what kind of paper did moser get? he probably shoulda cashed in somewhere else. thought that at the time after last years tourney

11 pts in the second half..in a college basketball game

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

It seems like Lucas Williamson is the factor in whether they play well or not which is odd as he is a sophomore and not a team leader in any categories.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

let's not and say we did?

During Sweet 16 I told my buddy I would buy a shirt if they made the F4. Didn’t think it was all that realistic of a possibility at the time.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

These next three games will determine the regular season. They play teams 2-4 in the conference, with two of the games on the road. Sweep this and they come out of it at 10-2 (17-8) with at least a two game lead and the tie breaker, with only six more games remaining.

Lucas Williamson is out again with an injury until late February. As I said before, he seems to be the determining factor on how this team plays. It sure would be nice if the Clayton Custer from last year would reappear.

My guess is that they lose on Saturday at Illinois State but win the next two against Drake and Valpo. None of these are going to be easy and they could just as easily lose all three. Still, they haven't lost a home MVC game over the last 12 so Drake should be a W. Get ISU and I think they sweep.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

It was a great one-time thing, dolphin. Now we need to let them rest.

_________________

I should have bet these games as I read them perfectly with one to go. Ramblers once again in first place at 8-3 (15-9). Need to beat Valpo on the road then go on a run to close out the regular season

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

All three games played out as I thought. The Ramblers sit at 16-9 with a two game lead and the tiebreakers with six to go in conference. 5 of the 6 are against second tier conference teams. The one last big game is Missouri State next Sunday. It is a rematch from a few weeks ago where Loyola got blown out 70-35. It is at Gentile where they are an entirely different team.

I think they will win all six to finish 22-9 and a regular season conference title. It hasn't been as great of a season as last year but that is a pretty good follow up.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.