They still are not very good.

They suck on the road.

Watch them blow out Missouri State at home now.

Clayton Custer has had to have had the most disappointing season of any player in the country. He has gone from conference player of the year on a Final Four team to an offensive afterthought and turnover machine

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

Yeah they will probably kick MS in the nuts at home. I'm gonna make sure I keep tabs on that Saturday.

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

It was a pathetic performance. Custer has been a ghost this year from an outsiders perspective however he should really be shamed by Townes feeling he had to do it all himself at the end of the game. It's clear he doesn't even have the confidence of his teammates any more.

That said, they are still tied for first place with four to go. Not a bad spot to be in. There haven't been so many titles in Rambler history that they should look down their nose at one this season.

Teams such as Bradley and Mo St are clearly on the ascent as the year ends and Loyola is on the descent.

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

best case scenario for this team right now is to win the regular season and tournament and then be sent to the NCAA against a big time team that will beat the stuffing out of them but given them some national name recognition for a few days . It will keep the name relevant in high school player minds.

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

I know this is not a particularly impressive season but here we are with three games to go sitting in first place and holding the tie breaker against the co holder. That would have been a pom pom waving season in every year before the Final Four.

Three games to go, all against teams at or below .500 in conference. Win out and have that post season invite in your back pocket going into the MVC tourney because it is no sure thing.

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

shit the bed once again on the road but still tied for first in the MVC in an historically down season (thought I heard on the broadcast that only 4 times in 100+ years of MVC basketball has their champion had this many losses).

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

Lucas Williamson returns and they are a different team. They hung tough at the end against a hot team on the road to pull out the victory. Win on senior night on Saturday and they win the conference along with no worse than an NIT bid.

I think with Williamson they beat Bradley on Saturday and have an impressive Arch Madness next week.

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

Regular season champs!

Back to back. Now hopefully they can win and get to the ncaa

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

The way their season has gone they could win the conf tournament or get upset in first round.

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

Does Cameron Krutwig declare for the draft or stick around another year? Probably top ten if he goes now.

_________________

As an XFL tight end, possibly. He could do it.

My lord, that tournament last year was so much fun....

Yes, it was. They were greater than the sum of their parts. Won't happen again, but it was cool while it lasted.

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that's true of so many teams through the years. You can almost guarantee that some team that is junior/senior heavy but lacking in stars is going to make an unexpected run each year in the NCAA.

Won't happen again is no big deal as it doesn't happen again even for many big name schools. If they can get to the tourney regularly, win a first round game often and get to 32 every five or so years, that would be a spectacular program. The real sign of respectability is to make the tournament as an at large.

I wouldn't be so sure that they are not going to be great again though. It sounds like they lucked into this Kennedy from Brother Rice, who could have a legitimate claim to Illinois player of the year. Krutwig and Williamson form a great junior class next year and if that Kennedy guy is a star from the beginning, the Ramblers are going to be legitimately dangerous.

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

It's funny because you see that guy walk onto the court at the beginning of the game and you think he is just a stereotypical big, heavy footed lug. When you watch him play you see he has elite post moves on offense. I wouldn't be shocked to see him have an end of the bench NBA career.

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

He was sensational against Michigan. He really was. I haven't seen him this year at all. I guess the story of this year is Custer's bricklaying. I suggest soaking his shooting arm in holy water this week. Tournament starts this weekend.

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Wattabout Kodak Black?

I like that kid a lot, but no way. He's 6'9" and the NBA is far different than it used to be.

_________________

There's a couple dinosaurs in the league. Kyle O'Quinn comes to mind. Krutwig has a LOT of college basketball left to go. I wonder if he's a legit 6'9".

_________________
Wattabout Kodak Black?

At least the Ramblin Dolphins gave Valpo the high hard one today

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

Bradley v Loyola 2:30 PM Tomorrow.

BE THERE !

No

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Wattabout Kodak Black?

Good luck in the NIT.

Bradley too much for the Ramblers.

Protestants win again.

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Big, heavy, lead footed lug with 6 pts

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Wattabout Kodak Black?

What type of NIT seed are they looking at?

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What a difference a year makes.....deep tourney run to a NIT first round loss.

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

Porter Moser may go down as the greatest NCAA tournament coach of all time. 4-1 tournament record.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Everyone will dance around it because he is a good guy but this season's problems fall squarely on Clayton Custer's shoulders. They had every reason to expect more out of the returning MVC POY and senior captain. He was flat out bad when they were relying on him to be even better than last year. It's hard to be pissed at a guy who produced two conference championships, two postseason births and an NCAA Final Four for a team with Loyola's recent history so I will just leave it that this was a season with much more promise than it realized.

Looking ahead, this was an incredibly young team. Sure, they were lead by two seniors but they have almost nothing at the junior level. The rising junior class is excellent with Krutwig and Williamson leading the way. Kaifes looks like a real player as a rising sophomore. The incoming freshman class has the potential to be the best recruiting class ever produced at Loyola with two all state players in Kennedy and Welch. However, once again, they will be young with no senior leadership.

Next year may see a bit of a dip. In two years they will be talking about this being a team that can make noise in the NCAA.

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