So, you think that Loyola-Chicago has no shot tonight against Michigan? Fighting Irish women give them hope


If you thought that Chicago-Loyola has no shot tonight in the NCAA Final Four semifinals against the Michigan Wolverines, just take a look at what happened last night in the women's game. 
Seemingly invincible UConn, the University of Connecticut women's basketball team, winner of 11 national titles, fell to Notre Dame in the women's semifinals on Friday night, giving the Ramblers a burst of hope. 
Yes, this is a UConn team and Coach Geno Auriemma who ran up the score against 16th-seeded St. Francis of Pa. by scoring 140 points against them in the women's first round. 
The win accentuates the fact that the Lady Irish have a hex on the Lady Huskies in the semifinals. The 91-89 victory resulted in overtime on a jump shot by Arike Ogunbowale with just a second left on the clock. 
Luck of the Itish? Maybe not.
[The St. Francis women were probably delighted to see their fellow Catholics get some revenge on UConn, albeit from a distance.]
Now, the Loyola-Chicago men enter tonight's game as a prohibitive underdog to the Michigan Wolverines. They are considered to be underdogs because they were an 11th seed in the tournament. And because no one ever heard of them before their 98 year old team chaplain, Sister Jean Doloroes, started praying for them and became a national icon, and because they won three of their games on late-second shots. And that the Ramblers have not even been in the tournament since 1985 -- ironically, when Villanova pulled off one of the greatest upsets in an NCAA championship game with a win over Georgetown [probably my favorite title game]. And that Loyola has practically no budget for recruiting compared to the top tier teams. And because no one believes in them and Coach Porter Moser's "Pace and Space" offense -- they have no chance, right? 
Sorta like no one ever thought that anyone could beat the UConn women this year. I would love to see an all-Catholic championship game with Loyola against Villanova, but both teams face some odds, though the Wildcats are a number 1 seed. 
Many people forget that Loyola-Chicago captured the NCAA title once before, in 1963, in a different era. 
But, miracles happen, and perhaps the Ramblers are a 2018 miracle ... just like the Fighting Irish women may have been last night. 
Maybe the luck of the Irish can be transferred to a team a short distance west of South Bend, Indiana.

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