Before the NCAA Tournament started, I had pegged Arizona to win the championship.
I’ve read about Wildcats freshman DeAndre Ayton who drew comparisons to Shaquille O’Neal and is potentially the No. 1 draft pick. I thought he’d be the next great one-and-done to lead a team to the title.
As most of you may have experienced if you filled out a bracket, mine was thoroughly busted after the first round.
I was right when I wrote there would be a first-round upset. I just picked the wrong game when I picked Davidson to upset Kentucky.
In the opening round, Arizona was upset by Buffalo, overall No. 1 seed Virginia was historically upset by No. 16 seed University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and No. 9 Kansas State beat No. 8 Creighton en route to it’s run to the Elite Eight.
But since the opening round, there’s been one team I’ve consistently read up on — the Loyola of Chicago Ramblers.
This small private school with a student body of just over 11,000, one miraculous win after another, reached the friggin’ Final Four.
The unselfish attitudes of the players, the program’s uncovered history of its 1963 championship-
winning team that at the same time broke racial barriers, the team’s 98-year-old chaplain who’s become the darling of the tournament, take your pick or choose all of the above. There’s plenty of reasons to cheer for this Cinderella team.
The Ramblers’ run has given me hope that my school, San Jose State University, can one day make a tournament run. It’s not realistic, but neither was picking Loyola to go this far. Right?
It’s why it’s called March Madness.
On Saturday, the Ramblers are matched up with Michigan. Like the usual teams who make it this far, Michigan is a traditional powerhouse university with a storied athletic history from one of the major conferences.
Riding on a 13-game win streak, the Wolverines may be the hottest team in the Final Four. While Loyola’s run is nothing to sneeze at, Michigan will surely be it’s toughest test.
While Kansas-Villanova is the marquee matchup for the national semifinals, I’m not even slightly interested. I’ll be tuned in to Loyola.
Some national pundits believe this is the end of the road for the Ramblers, saying the disparity of talent at this point will be too much to overcome.
To hell with all that. I want this ride to keep going.
And before I end this column, I’d just like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the Giants beat Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers on Major League Baseball’s Opening Day on Thursday.
Go, Giants.
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Nick Celario, sports writer, can be reached at 245-0437 or ncelario@thegardenisland.com.
