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Tennessee basketball: Should Vols fans want Loyola to win it all?

By Billy Williford

ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 24: Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt celebrates with the Loyola Ramblers after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 24, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. Loyola defeated Kansas State 78-62. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 24: Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt celebrates with the Loyola Ramblers after defeating the Kansas State Wildcats during the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament South Regional at Philips Arena on March 24, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. Loyola defeated Kansas State 78-62. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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After an outstanding season, Loyola-Chicago put the Tennessee basketball out of the big dance. Should Volunteers fans root for Sister Jean and the Ramblers?

I’m writing this piece because, for many Tennessee basketball fans, the taste is still BITTER! Actually, bitter is an understatement. It’s only been ten days, which seems like forever ago and day after day I keep re-watching the final shot by the senior guard, Clayton Custer. Many Vols fans are probably doing the same thing, hoping that maybe just maybe it will miss.

Let’s be honest, Tennessee basketball had a great opportunity to make it a deep run in the tournament, but the curse of Sister Jean is real folks. And, what a genius move by Sister Jean it was and still is. She had Loyola getting beat in the Sweet Sixteen in her bracket.

You might be asking why that is genius. If she had Loyola winning it all, wouldn’t the conspiracy theories start flying that Sister Jean was also secretly a wizard or something? So boom, not only is Sister Jean such a likable cute old lady, but she is also way smarter than any of us ever will be.

After the loss, I’m sure many on Rocky Top were wishing someone would beat Loyola by 50 points and shut them up. They are a tiny school no one even cared about all season long. They shouldn’t have beat Tennessee basketball; you could argue they shouldn’t have beat Miami in the First Round.

But, they didn’t get beat by 50. They didn’t get beat at all. They just kept winning. Moreover, the “big boys” in the South Region decided to collapse giving Loyola a more comfortable run to the Final Four.

Before you criticize, I’m not taking anything away from Loyola, hats off to them because they had to win the games and they did it in perfect team fashion. So now, the Ramblers are in the Final Four, and Sister Jean is more famous than Stormy Daniels and much better looking, sorry Trump.

Which, got me thinking, should Vols fans even be bitter? I mean if it is a curse, then there’s nothing that Tennessee basketball could have done about it, right?

Should Rocky Top be better, or should it root for Loyola to win it all? There are some positives and negatives to that. If they do indeed win it all, then at least Tennessee lost to the National Champion. But, what does that say about the tournament and college basketball? If they win, is Loyola really the best team? Will we as college basketball fans in general be happy with the outcome?

Next: Tennessee football: 10 toughest Vols to replace for 2018

I don’t like bandwagons, never have. After all, I root for the Tennessee Vols and the San Francisco 49ers. But, we should all jump on the Loyola bandwagon. Here’s to hoping they win it all. Maybe, the curse had caught me…….and you’re next.

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