Naturally, there is a prop for the 2022 NCAA Tournament regarding Sister Jean.
The most well-known people in college basketball these days with many star players leaving after their freshman season are the head coaches: Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Kentucky’s John Calipari, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo, etc.
However, one person might get more camera time in at least the first round of the 2022 Big Dance than Coach K, Izzo, or any other non-player: Loyola Chicago super-fan Sister Jean. Now 102 years of age, the Catholic nun and Ramblers’ team chaplain rose to national prominence in 2018 when Loyola made a shocking run to the Final Four.
Back then at the spry age of 98, she not only led team prayers and advised players but sent then-coach coach Porter Moser scouting reports before every game. Moser is now with Oklahoma, but Sister Jean is still going strong and she will be in Pittsburgh for 10th-seeded Loyola’s first-round NCAA Tournament game Friday against No. 7 Ohio State.
It Isn’t 1941 Any Longer
One sportsbook offers an NCAA Tournament prop on which is greater: Sister Jean’s age of 102 (she’ll be 103 in August; hopefully she gets there) at +170 or the lowest game score of the entire Big Dance at -250.
Just heard from a source in Chicago: The school anticipates Sister Jean will join her beloved Ramblers this week in Pittsburgh.
— Jerry DiPaola (@JDiPaola_Trib) March 14, 2022
What’s the lowest-scoring game in the tournament’s history? In 1941, Pittsburgh beat North Carolina in a 26-20 snoozer. The teams actually heated up in the second half considering UNC led 12-8 at intermission. The lowest-scoring game in the Final Four was also in 1941 when Wisconsin beat Washington State 39-34. Clearly, the Four Corners offense was in vogue back then, but of course, now there is a shot clock.
Just for a point of reference, the top offensive team in the nation this season was No. 1 overall seed Gonzaga, which averaged 87.8 ppg. The worst offensive team was IUPUI, which put up 52.4 ppg. The best defensive team was North Texas at 55.0 ppg (San Diego State has the best scoring defense of NCAA Tournament teams at 57.7 ppg), while the worst was Omaha in allowing 83.5 ppg.
The fewest points scored in the NCAA Tournament in the shot-clock era (since 1986) is 75, set when Missouri State beat Wisconsin 43-32 in 1999. The lowest-scoring last year was UCLA’s 51-49 win over Michigan in the Elite Eight. The victorious Bruins had only two players score more than four points, but Johnny Juzang was stellar with 28. Michigan’s leading scorer with 11 was Hunter Dickinson.
Both Juzang and Dickinson are with their respective teams in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, but don’t look for a rematch as Michigan is a No. 11 seed in the South Region and UCLA a No. 4 in the East. The schools could only meet in the national title game, and while the Bruins are capable of getting there the Wolverines aren’t.
There are also two lowest-scoring props for the Round of 64 on Thursday and Friday: over/under 106.5 points for any two teams and over/under 48.5 points for one.
