The Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team represents Loyola University Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. The Ramblers participate as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Ramblers joined the Missouri Valley Conference in 2013, and stayed until 2022. Prior to 2013, the team had spent 34 seasons as a charter member of the Horizon League.
In 1963, Loyola won the 1963 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament (then the "NCAA University Division") men's basketball national championship under the leadership of All-American Jerry Harkness, defeating two-time defending champion Cincinnati 60âÂÂ58 in overtime in the title game. All five starters for the Ramblers played the entire championship game without substitution.
Surviving team members were honored on July 11, 2013, at the White House to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their victory. The entire team was inducted in November of that year in the College Basketball Hall of Fame. As of 2025, Loyola remains the only school from the state of Illinois to win a men's Division I basketball NCAA tournament. Loyola's first-round regional victory over Tennessee Tech on March 11, 1963, remains a record for margin of victory (69 points) for any NCAA men's basketball tournament game.
The team gained national publicity again in 2018, as a result of both their Cinderella Story-esque performance in the tournament, in which they upset numerous teams to reach the Final Four as an 11-seed, tying for the lowest seed ever to do so, and the cultural popularity of their team chaplain, the then-98-year-old religious sister Jean Dolores Schmidt ("Sister Jean").
As of February 17, 2021, the team had achieved its highest Kenpom ranking ever, at number nine in the country, with the number one ranked defense.
The Loyola University Chicago teams of the early 1960s, coached by George Ireland, are thought to be responsible for ushering in a new era of racial equality in the sport by shattering all remaining color barriers in NCAA men's basketball. Beginning in 1961, Loyola broke the longstanding gentlemen's agreement (not to play more than three black players at any given time), putting as many as four black players on the court at every game. For the 1962âÂÂ63 season, Ireland played four black Loyola starters in every game. That season, Loyola also became the first team in NCAA Division I history to play an all-black lineup, doing so in a game against Wyoming on December 29, 1962. In that season's NCAA tournament, Loyola defeated the all-white team of then-segregated Mississippi State by a score of 61âÂÂ51, a game especially notable because the Bulldogs defied a state court order prohibiting them from playing against a school with black players. The game has since been dubbed the "Game of Change" in popular culture.
In 1963, Loyola shocked the nation and changed college basketball forever by starting four black players in the NCAA championship game. Loyola's stunning upset of two-time defending NCAA champion Cincinnati, in overtime by a score of 60âÂÂ58, was the crowning achievement in the school's nearly decade long struggle with racial inequality in men's college basketball, highlighted by the tumultuous events of that year's NCAA Tournament. Loyola's 1963 NCAA title was historic not only for the racial makeup of Loyola's team, but also due to the fact that Cincinnati had started three black players, making seven of the 10 starters in the 1963 NCAA Championship game black.
The team's original home venue was the on-campus Alumni Gym. However, Loyola later moved to play their games at DePaul University's Alumni Hall, and subsequently moved around, with stints at Northwestern University's McGaw Memorial Hall (today known as Welsh Ryan Arena), the University of Illinois at Chicago's Illinois-Chicago Pavilion, and the Chicago Stadium. From 1987 until 1989, Loyola played at the International Amphitheatre, but suffered poor attendance at that venue. From 1989 until 1994, the team played at the Rosemont Horizon (today known as the "Allstate Arena"), but suffered low attendance at the venue and moved back to the on-campus Alumni Gym in 1994. In 1996, the team moved into their current on-campus home, the Joseph J. Gentile Arena, which replaced Alumni Hall.
The Ramblers have appeared in eight NCAA tournaments. Their combined record is 15âÂÂ7. They were National Champions in 1963. On March 24, 2018, the Ramblers defeated Kansas State 78âÂÂ62 to advance to play in their second Final Four in school history.
The Ramblers have appeared in seven National Invitation Tournaments. They reached the championship game twice, and won the third place consolation game once. Their combined record is 9âÂÂ6.
The Ramblers have appeared in the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) once, winning it in 2015. Their record is 5âÂÂ0.
, eight players have had their jerseys retired by the school.
All-Americans
Academic All-Americans
MCC/Missouri Valley Coach of the Year
MCC/Horizon League/Missouri Valley Player of the Year
MCC/Horizon League/Missouri Valley First Team
MCC/Horizon League/Missouri Valley Second Team
Missouri Valley Conference Third Team
MCC/Horizon League/Missouri Valley All-Defensive Team
MCC/Horizon League/Missouri Valley Newcomer of the Year
MCC/Horizon League/Missouri Valley All-Newcomer Team
Missouri Valley Freshman of the Year
Missouri Valley All-Freshman Team
Missouri Valley Sixth Man of the Year
Missouri Valley Defensive MVP
MCC/Horizon League/Missouri Valley Tournament MVP
MCC/Horizon League/Missouri Valley All-Tournament Team