The 2018–19 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represented
Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...
during the
2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season
The 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 6, 2018. The first tournament was the 2K Sports Classic and the season concluded with the Final Four at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 8, 2019. Pract ...
. The Ramblers, led by seventh-year head coach
Porter Moser
Porter Andrew Moser (born August 24, 1968) is a college basketball coach who is the current head coach of the University of Oklahoma men's basketball team. Moser spent 10 years (2011–2021) at Loyola University Chicago, helping lead the Rambler ...
, played their home games at the
Joseph J. Gentile Arena in
Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. They were members of the
Missouri Valley Conference
The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...
. They finished the season 20–14, 12–6 in MVC play to earn a share of the MVC regular season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the
MVC tournament, they beat
Valparaiso before losing to
Bradley in the semifinals. As a regular season conference champion who did not win their tournament championship, the Ramblers received an automatic bid to the
National Invitation Tournament
The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...
as the No. 7 seed in the TCU bracket. There they lost in the first round to
Creighton.
Previous season
The
Ramblers
The Ramblers' Association, branded simply as the Ramblers, is Great Britain's walking charity. The Ramblers is also a membership organisation with around 100,000 members and a network of volunteers who maintain and protect the path network. T ...
finished the
2017–18 season 32–6, 15–3 in
MVC play with a win against
Evansville
Evansville is a city in Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 118,414 at the 2020 census, it is Indiana's third-most populous city after Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, the most populous city in S ...
on February 18, 2018, Loyola clinched at least a share of its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship. With a win over
Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois is a region of the U.S. state of Illinois comprising the southern third of the state, principally south of Interstate 70. Part of downstate Illinois, it is bordered by the two List of U.S. rivers by discharge, most voluminous ri ...
on February 21, the Ramblers clinched the outright MVC championship. The Ramblers defeated
Northern Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
,
Bradley, and
Illinois State to win the
MVC tournament. As a result, the Ramblers received the conference's automatic bid to the
NCAA tournament. As the No. 11 seed in the South Region, they upset No. 6-seeded
Miami (FL) on a last second three-pointer. In the Second Round, they defeated No. 3-seeded
Tennessee
Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...
to earn the school's first trip to the Sweet Sixteen since
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
. They then defeated
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
in the Sweet Sixteen and
Kansas State
Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...
in the Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four for the first time since
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cove ...
. Their
Cinderella-story run ended with loss to
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
in the national semifinal.
Offseason
Departures
Incoming transfers
2018 recruiting class
2019 recruiting class
Roster
Schedule and results
, -
!colspan=9 style=, Exhibition
, -
!colspan=9 style=, Non-conference regular season
, -
!colspan=9 style=,
Missouri Valley regular season
, -
!colspan=9 style=,
Missouri Valley tournament
, -
!colspan=9 style=,
NIT
Source
Rankings
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team
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