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Line 40: In an era when teams typically played no more than two black players at a time, Loyola had four black starters. Despite regularly facing racism on the road, Loyola finished the 1962–63 regular season with a dominant 24–2 record. Mississippi State came into the postseason with their fourth [[Southeastern Conference]] (SEC) title in five years; however, due to an unwritten law that Mississippi teams would never play against black players, they had never before participated in the NCAA tournament. When university president [[Dean W. Colvard]] announced that he would send the team to the tournament, several state officials objected and attempted to restrain the team in the state. Employing a plan involving decoy players, the Bulldogs avoided being served an injunction as they took a charter plane to Michigan the day before the game. Loyola had advanced to the second round after beating [[Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball|Tennessee Tech]] by 69 points, the largest margin of victory in tournament history, while Mississippi State had ==Background== Line 46: ===Loyola-Chicago=== [[File:Jerry Harkness receives Sporting News Award.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Loyola coach [[George Ireland]] presents [[Jerry Harkness]] with an [[1963 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|All-American]] award.|alt=refer to caption]] In the early 1960s, [[college basketball]] had an unwritten rule that teams should only play two or three black players at a time.<ref name="NPR2013">{{cite web |last1=Corley |first1=Cheryl |title=Game Of Change: Pivotal Matchup Helped End Segregated Hoops |url=https://www.npr.org/2013/03/15/174304630/game-of-change-pivotal-matchup-helped-end-segregated-hoops |website=[[NPR.org]] |access-date=28 May 2020 |language=en |date=15 March 2013}}</ref> For the first decade of his career, [[Loyola Ramblers men's basketball|Loyola]] head coach [[George Ireland]] had obeyed this rule. In the [[1961–62 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team|Ramblers' 1961–62 season]], Ireland's starting lineup had three black players ([[Jerry Harkness]], [[Vic Rouse (basketball)|Vic Rouse]], and [[Les Hunter (basketball)|Les Hunter]]) and two white players ([[John Egan (basketball)|Jack Egan]] and Mike Gavin). As the season progressed, however, sophomore [[Ron Miller (basketball)|Ron Miller]] developed as a guard, and Rouse says several players felt that Miller should have been starting over Gavin. Miller said he was told explicitly by Ireland that he Loyola performed well with this lineup, and Ireland would go on to use the same five throughout the [[1962–63 Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team|1962–63 season]].<ref name="Lenehan"/>{{rp|156}} According to Ireland, this stance on black players made him unpopular in the basketball world; he once said that other coaches "used to stand up at banquets and say, 'George Ireland isn't with us tonight because he's in Africa — recruiting.'"<ref>{{cite news |last1=Goldstein |first1=Richard |title=George Ireland, 88, Title-Winning Coach at Loyola, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/20/sports/george-ireland-88-title-winning-coach-at-loyola-dies.html |access-date=22 June 2020 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=20 September 2001 |language=en}}</ref> This animosity was persistent, and the Loyola players regularly faced discrimination on the road. In January 1962, the Ramblers had planned to stay at [[Xavier University of Louisiana]] while traveling to a game against [[Loyola Wolf Pack|Loyola of New Orleans]]; however, this plan fell through at the last minute, and the black and white players were forced to find separate lodgings. Chicago news outlets reported on Ireland's outrage at the situation, although some of his players later suggested he played up the controversy.<ref name="Lenehan"/>{{rp|149–51}} Another incident took place on February 23, 1963, when crowd members at a [[Houston Cougars men's basketball|Houston]] road game shouted racial slurs and threw popcorn and ice.<ref name="Time2018"/> Despite these troubles, the Ramblers performed well on the court, and they concluded the regular season with a 24–2 record. They remained in the top five rankings throughout their campaign, and ultimately finished at No. 3 in the [[AP Poll]] and No. 4 in the [[Coaches Poll]].<ref name="SeasonPolls"/> On February 18, Loyola was awarded one of eleven [[at-large bid]]s for the NCAA tournament.<ref>{{cite news |title=5 Fives Accept Bids to N.C.A.A. Tourney |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1963/02/19/89522074.html?zoom=15.65 |access-date=22 June 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=19 Feb 1963 |location=New York |page=16 |language=en |url-access=subscription |id={{ProQuest|116595735}}}}</ref> In the tournament's first round game on March 11, the Ramblers defeated [[Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles men's basketball|Tennessee Tech]] 111–42, the largest margin of victory in tournament history {{as of|2024|lc=y|post=.}} This led them to face [[Mississippi State Bulldogs men's basketball|Mississippi State]], who ===Mississippi State=== Line 64: {{Wikisource|Statement by D. W. Colvard, president of Mississippi State University, relative to participation in National Collegiate Athletic Association championship competition|Statement by D. W. Colvard on NCAA participation}} Colvard's decision sparked widespread debate within the state of Mississippi. Several Mississippi legislators, including State [[File:Mississippi State Higher Learning board (Reveille 1963).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.2|Mississippi's state college board voted 8–3 in support of sending the Bulldogs to the tournament.|alt=Mississippi's state college board, consisting of older white men in suits, sitting around a long boardroom table]] On March 5, the state college board announced they would be holding a special session to review Colvard's decision. The meeting was convened by trustee M. M. Roberts of [[Hattiesburg, Mississippi|Hattiesburg]], whom ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'''s Alexander Wolff describes as a "tenacious lawyer and proud racist".<ref name="Ghosts"/> When the board met several days later in [[Jackson, Mississippi]], protesters and petitioners on both sides of the debate were present outside the building. The board voted 8–3 in support of the tournament decision, and 9–2 in a vote expressing confidence in Colvard's leadership.<ref name="Ghosts"/> Nevertheless, participation in the game was still opposed by many in the state, including On the morning of March 14, the day before the game was to be played, the team sent trainer Dutch Luchsinger and five reserve players to [[George M. Bryan Airport|Starkville airport]] at 8 a.m. as decoys. Had they been stopped by authorities while trying to board, the rest of the team would have taken a private plane to Nashville and flown commercially to Michigan. ''The Clarion-Ledger'' reported that Deputy Sheriff Johnson went to the airport to serve the injunction, but left after learning that the plane had not yet arrived due to delays in Atlanta.<ref name="ClarionArrive"/> Other accounts suggest alternate reasons why Johnson failed, such as that he arrived too late because he stopped to finish his coffee first; historian Michael Lenehan sums up the legend of Dot Johnson as "a deputy sheriff who tried to do his duty, but not too hard".<ref name="Lenehan"/>{{rp|213}} | |||