Last year, Loyola Chicago got to 19-11, and didn’t get any post season action. Their RPI ended up being pretty dreadful – 138’s not going to get it done, even when there were 105 spots. Still, that was the best record in two decades This year, the Ramblers seem headed to a 21-11 record (best since a 27 win season in 84-85), and still won’t make the post season. Winning 40 games over two years and not making either the NCAA or the NIT once seems pretty impossible, but I fear that’s what’s going to happen.
21-8 (13-2) 081 RPI – Wright State
25-4 (12-2) 028 RPI – Butler
19-9 (09-5) 108 RPI – Loyola (Chicago)
Preseason polls had Loyola winning the conference, but that talk was over after Butler ran thru the NIT, and died another death when Wright State got unbelievable hot on in the conference. RPI 108 might have had an outside chance of getting a NIT bid, but they’ve shrunk that tournament by 8 spots.
Loyola still got two chances of making it to post season play, which is at least one more chance than usual:
– win the Horizon league tournament, which they haven’t done since 1985.
– beat Butler at Butler on Thursday, and then possibly beat Butler again (at Wright State) to make it to the Horizon league final
Nothing else is going to get the RPI to a useful level. If they don’t win Thursday against Butler, they’ll get Wright State in the 2/3 league tournament game (assuming they make it that far.) Wright themselves are borderline for making the NIT, so a win over them won’t help Loyola too much – they’d need to beat Butler anyway. If Loyola can beat Butler twice, that’ll not only raise their profile, but a Wright State/Loyola final means either Loyola is going to the NCAAs, or two team from it’s conference are going, which would make it tough to leave out the third team from the NITs.
Either way is going to be tough, but they’ve got chances; two wins out of the three big games will get it done. If they want to be a post season team, they’ve got do post season team type things next couple of weeks.