The Loyola men’s basketball team (18-14, 8-10) knew it had its work cut out for itself going into this season. The Ramblers had just lost three of their top four scorers to graduation and had brought 11 newcomers to the scene.
Early on, it looked like the Ramblers would make a run in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). They started 7-0 at Gentile Arena — including a victory over 2016 Mountain West Conference tournament runner-up San Diego State University — and earned a vote in the AP Top 25 poll for the first time since the 1984-85 season.