Two weeks ago, projecting Loyola-Chicago as a Final Four team would have seemed preposterous on any NCAA tournament bracket. The 11th-seeded Ramblers might have had the look of a Cinderella before all the buzzer beaters, but even Sister Jean had this team bowing out in the Sweet 16.
The South Region was supposed to be Virginia's to lose. Or Arizona's. Then it was supposed to be Cincinnati's after those two teams were stunned in the first round. And then it was supposed to be Kentucky's to lose. Instead, the South Region is sending just the fourth-ever No. 11 seed to San Antonio.
Loyola-Chicago has defied all logic and bracket predictions with its spirited, storybook run to the Final Four.
GAME STORY: Loyola-Chicago beats Kansas State to reach Final Four
LOYOLA-CHICAGO: Ben Richardson is the new hero in Elite Eight win
Now, with Saturday's net-cutting coronation setting in following the Ramblers' dominant win over Kansas State in the Elite Eight, it's difficult to not take this Final Four team seriously as a contender — a national championship contender. Let that sink in.
Think that's crazy? So is this team in the Final Four. Here's a look at four reasons the Ramblers can win it all and cut down the nets in April, too.
1. Six players who can get hot
In a first-round win over Miami (Fla.), the hero was Donte Ingram with a top-of-the-key buzzer beater. In a second-round win over Tennessee, it was Clayton Custer with a game-winner with three seconds left. In the Sweet 16, it was Marques Townes with a game-winner with six seconds left. In the Elite Eight on Saturday, while there was no need for last-second heroics like the first three NCAA tournament wins, it was role player Ben Richardson who had the hot hand, finishing with 23 points off six three-pointers.
"It doesn't really matter who it is," Richardson said on TBS after the game. "We've got a ton of guys (who can score). This team is so unselfish that the ball usually finds the hot hand. Tonight, it happened to be me."
The only two players to not have a game in the spotlight include freshman big man Cameron Krutwig, who averages double figures and is fully capable of breaking out as he was this team's best player in several Missouri Valley regular-season contests this season. And sixth man Aundre Jackson is the team's third leading scorer who had 16 points against Tennessee and 15 against Nevada.
2. Excelling at inside-out or small ball
Krutwig is a version of George Mikan or Jack Sikma in 2018 with his old-school post-up game. The 6-9 freshman big man (10.4 ppg, 6.1 ppg) plays as smart as a senior and has throwback post moves that are reminiscent of a different era. He creates space in the paint, and is an exceptional passer for back cutters. His play has been invaluable in this team's Final Four run and he'll undoubtedly be an X-Factor against power conference teams in San Antonio.
But coach Porter Moser often opted to utilize a five-guard set against Kansas State and Nevada to counter those teams' athleticism on the offensive end. When Loyola goes with this set, no player is taller than 6-7 and rebounding becomes a defensive weakness. But it's worked wonders on offense, as it gives this already dangerous perimeter team all five players capable of drilling a shot from beyond the arc.
3. Rick Majerus' floor-spacing influence
Moser recruited these players who would thrive in the system he learned under the late Majerus while an assistant at Saint Louis. They're all strong shooters who have an instinct to make the extra pass, and penetrate enough to keep the defense honest. That creates a unique chemistry we haven't seen in a dribble-heavy college game in quite some time. Factor all those right ingredients with the floor-spacing recipe that made Majerus' best teams at Utah and Saint Louis so dynamic, and you get this historic team. Their style is so hard for even the most defensively-aggressive teams to guard when there are so many weapons and the ball is moving around the perimeter without a preferred offensive target. Teams in San Antonio will get headaches trying to game plan for it.
More than anything, Majerus emphasized to Majerus the importance of creating the right culture, and Moser heeded his mentor's advice with the right principles and the high-character players he brought in; Six of Loyola's players won state championships in high school. "That's by design," Moser told USA TODAY Sports earlier this month.
4. Confidence, Cinderella swagger
The number of "divine fate" story lines in relation to Sister Jean have been aplenty with this team's Cinderella run. But there absolutely is something to make of the way a team's moxie kicks in when it plays with a confidence as if it's destined to do something special. We saw it with George Mason in 2006. We saw it with VCU in 2011. And we saw it with Butler in 2010 and 2011.
"This is a group that believes," Moser said on TBS after the K-State win. There's a swagger that Cinderella teams like this have, but we've seen it more specifically in times when Loyola-Chicago has found itself trying to counter another team's run. Nevada, for instance, played possessed down the stretch in a narrow outcome. But in late-game situations, the reason this underdog mid-major looks poised and hardly rattled has to do with their faith in their system and destiny to make history.
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