SAN ANTONIO — When the tears dried, Loyola's renegade Ramblers reveled in what they'd done.
They joined the ranks of Butler and George Mason and VCU and Wichita State, schools with names now synonymous with Cinderella and March Madness. They popularized Sister Jean, the 98-year-old nun who became the face of the NCAA Tournament.
They brought scores of fans clad in maroon and gold to south-central Texas, to the city most famous for its underdog spirit, and took it over. Chants of "L-U-C!" swept through San Antonio's River Walk like flash floods time and again in the 48 hours leading up to Loyola's Saturday night loss to Michigan in the first Final Four matchup at the Alamodome.