WSU VS.LOYOLA PREDICTIONS AND PREGAME DISCUSSIONS

[Veritas]

Now that IlSU fans have gone into the toilet, I'll need to elevate Loyola as part of my favorite MoVal competition along with SWOMO and Bradley (Bradley because of our history against each other and SWOMO because of geography).
Of course that could rapidly change should we ever lose a game to Loyola. They do need to work on their attendance.

[Rambler63]

Thanks Pogo. My previous posts before the one I made above were to help straighten out some of the misperceptions about Loyola when we were lobbying hard to join the MVC. I know a lot of Shocker fans weren't wild (to put it mildly) about Loyola joining the conference, but a few of you knew the deep and interconnected history the two programs have had. That was one of the many reasons I felt so strongly about Loyola being the best fit for the conference among the other schools that were considered.

We're still making adjustments toward integrating into the MVC, but we are absolutely committed in terms of finances, emotion, and will to become a valuable and respected member of the conference. I'm a 50 year old guy and a Loyola fan for 25+ years, and I still pinch myself every now and then to try and make sure our move to the MVC isn't some sort of out-of-body experience. Our non-revenue sports so far have done really well. And a lot of people have been surprised by our wins against MSU, Drake, and UNI.

Nobody could come in and instantly "replace" the team that recently left the MVC, out of the box. Florida, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Duke and Villanova are pretty happy with their current conferences. And we don't perceive that as our role. We think of ourselves as replacing the team that will move up in the heirarchy to replace that team that just left. I hope you all see it that way as well.

Looking forward to our first trip back to Wichita since 1969. If we play well and don't embarrass ourselves, we'll cruise Douglas Ave. in our Mustang after the game.

[jocoshock]

Loyola started the 1963 season 21-0, but lost their 22nd game at Bowling Green (led by future NBA Hall of Famer Nate Thurmond). The very same night, #1 Cincinnati--also undefeated on the season-- lost at Wichita State, breaking the Bearcats' 37-game winning streak.

The Ramblers also started the 1938-39 season 21-0 before losing in the NIT Championship.

The longest Loyola winning streak was 31 games from 1928 to 1930, including a 16-0 season in 1928-29.

More recently, Loyola had a 19-game winning streak in 1985 before they were beaten in the Sweet 16 by Patrick Ewing and defending champion Georgetown.

Bernard Jackson wasn't on that by amy chance was he? Thought I herd that tramsferred from WSU.

[1972Shocker]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Ron Bonham. That name brings back memories from when I was young and listened to the games on my "state of the art" transistor radio complete with an ear piece.

Ah yes the transistor radio. We thought we had reached the pinnacle of technological advancement.




Put it in the old deep freeze, Gus!

[jocoshock]

With all due respect to Texas Western, the Loyola Ramblers may actually have been the team that change the Color of College Basketball. Although Cincy had a decent number of black players in those days as well as did the Shockers.

The Valley was probably ahead of the "big name" schools in recruiting black players and that had more than a little to do with its reputation as the Valley of Death in those years.

Read a good article from the SI vault just last week from the 60s about the Valley being the number one conference in the country. Several coaches from big name schools said they would be as good as Valley teams if they"lowered their academic standards" like the Valley.

I am sure some of those teams had 1 or 2 black players but there was definitely a bit of an undertone in their comments. Of course, we should thank the State of Texas for rolling out the red carpet all the way to Wichita for Mr. Stallworth...

The smaller schools like the Valley schools and Loyola definetly paved the way.

[Rambler63]

I was one of the several dozen interviews by Mike Lenehan, author of "Ramblers: Loyola Chicago 1963 - The Team that Changed the Color of College Basketball." I made an audacious but fairly well researched claim on a blog post-- that Loyola was the first team in major college basketball to play five Black players at once, in the Christmas Tournament at Oklahoma City in 1962. Lenehan researched it and found it to be true.

So the next time you see five African American players on the court for a team, remember that Loyola did it 3 years before Texas-Western, before the Civil Rights Act, before the March on Washington, before Bull Connor.

[shoxlax]

Loyola has been a bit of a surprise in league play. I had em' a dead solid Thursday participant, now I'm not so sure.

They seem tough at home which is strange because the attendance is low. Is their gym a uniquely tough place to play?

[shox1989]

Loyola has been a bit of a surprise in league play. I had em' a dead solid Thursday participant, now I'm not so sure.

They seem tough at home which is strange because the attendance is low. Is their gym a uniquely tough place to play?

It may have more to do with the city they are in. Chicago is a great city with a lot of possible distractions.

[shoxlax]

Oh what a tangled web we weave:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-03-02/sports/8501120373_1_alfredrick-hughes-loyola-coach-gene-sullivan-andre-battle

I actually remember Golston...hellava player. So, of course, was Hughes.

[Rambler63]

Several coaches from big name schools said they would be as good as Valley teams if they "lowered their academic standards" like the Valley.

The smaller schools like the Valley schools and Loyola definetly paved the way.

They said that about the Loyola players back then, too. Mississippi newspapers were partiiculary nasty when they were trying to urge legislators to ban Mississippi State from playing Loyola. University of Houston fans (U of H was segregated at the time) threw coins at Loyola players insinuating they were paid ringers just because the were Black.

But guess what? The five starting players on Loyola's national championship team earned a total of 11 degrees between them. The man who tipped in the winning basket in the championship game, Vic Rouse, earned a BA, three Masters, and a Doctorate from USC. He formed a think tank in Washington in the 1990s to help address sentencing and criminal justice disparities. He was on the board of trustees of Southern Illinois University as a 27-year old grad student working on his second graduate degree. John Egan got a BA and a law degree. Ron Miller got a BA and an MBA from Loyola.

[molly jabali]

As a 10 year old, I don't recall what my fascination was with Cincinnati, but I loved 'em...and then Loyola broke my hear...I THINK that game was live on tv and I watched it....

oh, and WSU 77, Loyola 60

When was Doyle at KU?

[pogo]

If you guys don't break up this love fest this board may give the wrong impression to our visitor.:)

[1972Shocker]

Time for Cle to bust out at home. In our 4 Valley road games Cle is averaging 21.75 PPG and 9.0 RPG. In our 4 Valley home games Cle is averaging 10.25 PPG and 4.25 RPG.

Maybe we need our student section to start yelling insults at Cle.

[Rambler63]

As a 10 year old, I don't recall what my fascination was with Cincinnati, but I loved 'em...and then Loyola broke my hear...I THINK that game was live on tv and I watched it....

oh, and WSU 77, Loyola 60

When was Doyle at KU?

Here's an article about how Doyle ended up at Loyola.

http://voices.suntimes.com/sports/city-suburban-hoops-report/milton-doyle-lands-at-loyola/

Also, Doyle just got MVC Newcomer of the Week again (fourth time) and Loyola is having problems getting to Wichita... first flight was cancelled, and now they've got to fly to KC and bus it to Wichita.

http://voices.suntimes.com/none/loyolas-doyle-wins-mvc-honors-again/

[1972Shocker]

RealTimeRPI.com has Loyola's RPI at 289 and we still have to play them twice. If there was ever a pair of games that we simply can not afford to lose these two games are it. Let's hope we don't pull a SIU-type sleepwalking effort tomorrow night. Somehow, I don't think this particular team will be too susceptible to that.