At the start of the day, Loyola's RPI was 58, up from 230 just before the UTSA win. After the win at Kent State, we're up to 19.

Now we're in a position to really make some headway. Home against Tulane; at UIC; and home against Jackson State, Abilene Christian, and Southern Utah-- all games we should win. If we keep playing with the same energy and intensity against the next five teams, we could be 7-1 going into the Vegas Tournament, with good practice at finding a way to share on offense and defense to compete against larger and more physical teams.

You can't dwell too much on things that have already happened or look too far ahead, but winning two games in a row on the road feels damn good. It's put us in a great spot to earn a postseason birth somewhere-- if we can keep putting this kind of energy into what we're doing and extend it into conference season to finish at least .500. After 30 years without a postseason birth of any kind (NCAA, NIT, CIT, CBI), making a C-tournament is now fully within the realm of possibility-- IF we keep playing with determination, EVERY game. It would be a great thing for CT and Joe Crisman to experience in their senior year, and a learning experience for the younger guys.

Crazy that it has been THIRTY years without any postseason. In recent years, we have had some good starts against weak non-conference only to fall apart in conference play (2009-2010 and 2010-2011 come to mind). So, I will try to keep my expectations tempered. However, the team played with a lot of energy today which is great to see. I'd consider this season a success if we can stay healthy and finish .500 in conference play.

If there's one thing I've learned following the Ramblers over the years, it's to never assume any game is a guaranteed win. If there's two things I've learned, the first would be to never assume any game is a win, and the second would be to never get too far ahead of yourself in predicting a postseason trip. If there's three wishes I have this holiday season, the first would about the wins, the second would be about postseason, and the third would be for all the children of the world to join hands and sing together in the spirit of harmony and peace.

Word!

I did a search on Ramblermania, and only 01grad (once) and me (about six times) have mentioned the CBI or CIT. The CBI began in 2008 (a year after we were on the NIT bubble) and the CIT in 2009. After not having been in any postseason at all since 84-85, we should make it a goal to reach one of these tournaments as a goal-- this year.

Yes, I realize that many schools look down on these tournaments. One of my previous mentions about C-tournaments was UNI last year pro-actively taking themselves out of consideration for a C-tournament, presumably as a motivational tool. Yet they can also be a really important part-- a stepping stone-- to get to more prestigious postseason play.

Sometimes you have to point out how long the terribleness has been going on to get people angry and motivated enough to pull together and stop it. That's why I posted the 20-game losing streak article the day before the UTSA game. I did a similar thing back in 2001, when the road losing streak was 25-- mentioning the losing streak in every game story and inbetween stories. After Loyola shook the 25-game streak in 2001, they won two of their next three road games which included the first two road conference games. That was the year we made the HL final. Call it nagging, motivation, pestering or whatever you want-- sometimes if they don't hear about it, they don't think about it, and the complacency just keeps going on.

This post was about how we've now put ourselves in a position where one of those C-tournaments is actually possible, as opposed to the preseason predictions (mine included) of doom. Win Wednesday, using the same (or better) level of effort against an eminently beatable Tulane team, and we're 3-1 in D1 games. Let's roll that out as a goal-- ending the 30-year habit of no postseason play.

You also point out our road losing streaks at UIC and Butler...those crumbled shortly thereafter too.

Keep up the pointing out!

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Cigarboy sucks!