Hey all - just wanted to chime in on the Arch Madness topic.

I am a Loyola alum and did my graduate school at Creighton, a school that obviously took part in the tournament for quite a while. I can honestly say that the weekend down in St. Louis for the tournament is one of the best experiences you can have as a current student or alumnus. I'll admit, I'm probably a bit spoiled, as Creighton's program is in far better shape than Loyola's and CU's fans travel extremely well (CU would routinely bring 5,000+ down there; dwarfing even the WSU contingent); but it was an amazing time to spend a weekend with a bunch of friends and family while enjoying tons of good basketball. The weekend as a whole was a massive opportunity for Creighton's Alumni Relations department to really drum up school spirit/unity etc., and I know that many Creighton alumni looked forward to that weekend all year long. It became a true tradition, from the daily team sendoffs with (literally) thousands of fans in the Hyatt lobby to which restaurants and bars CU folks would hang out at.

It is really a missed opportunity for Loyola if the school doesn't start approaching Arch Madness the same way. Obviously, a team that has stunk for the better part of two decades and is 9-21 heading into the tournament isn't going to have much fan support behind it. And that's the reality. There is just about zero fan support at Loyola. However, I was encouraged by the somewhat respectable student turnout given the circumstances. If Moser can get this program turned around (and he has some very good young players), Arch Madness will be something that should become an annual pilgrimage for LU fans. Moments like Doyle's shot last night happen all the time in STL it seems, and that was a great start to Loyola's Arch Madness history.

If you didn't make the trip this year, that's totally understandable given the state of the team, but I would HIGHLY encourage all of you to make the trek in the coming years, as I think you'll find it's a great weekend even if Loyola loses early on.

Go Ramblers.

They are doing everything they can to take advantage. We have a long way to go, but yesterday was a good start.

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