The second round of the 2021 NCAA men’s basketball tournament opened as if it were the second weekend: With two top-10 teams dueling in Indy.
Illinois and Loyola went to battle Sunday afternoon with March Madness only 35 games old. And they played the most consequential game of the tournament yet. The eighth-seeded Ramblers didn’t “stun” the top-seeded Illini. This wasn’t some fluky upset. They beat them, straight-up, wire to wire. With brains, but also with brawn.
In doing so, they not only knocked off a title favorite. They busted open an entire half of the bracket.