NCAA Tournament March Madness

#45 VCU

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Projected seed: 10 (automatic qualifier)

VCU’s resume reads like a team that belongs on the fringe because its best moments include signature neutral-court success against Virginia Tech and road victories at Davidson and Dayton that show it can win away from home, while its nonconference slate put it through quality tests against Utah State, Vanderbilt and New Mexico. The damage comes from ugly results that a committee will notice, most notably a neutral loss to Utah State, a neutral loss to Vanderbilt, a road setback at NC State and losses to Saint Louis both at home and on the road that undercut consistency. The Atlantic Ten body of work is respectable with important conference road wins and a comfortable home profile, so VCU has the wins that prove it can hang with good teams but lacks a signature, marquee upset to push it higher. What ultimately cements this position will be how the Rams handle any remaining neutral-site tests against league rivals such as Duquesne, Saint Joseph’s and Dayton in tournament play because those are the clearest routes to erase the bad losses and convert a borderline season into an unquestioned bid.

Date Opponent Ranking Outcome
11/3Wagner305W103-74
11/7(N)Utah St30L80-77
11/12St Peter's255W78-61
11/17@NC State34L85-79
11/22Coppin St363W101-58
11/26(N)South Florida47W78-66
11/27(N)Vanderbilt12L89-74
11/28(N)Virginia Tech55W86-68
12/5Samford215W83-57
12/10New Mexico50L81-78
12/15Niagara338W84-58
12/18American Univ238W105-83
12/22Rider357W100-79
12/31St Bonaventure139W89-82
1/3@Duquesne128W93-80
1/7St Louis41L71-62
1/10@George Mason96L86-80
1/14@Rhode Island135W84-75
1/19St Joseph's PA116W79-72
1/24@Davidson114W75-69
1/27Richmond160W77-69
1/30Loyola-Chicago280W89-75
2/3@Fordham166W63-59
2/6Dayton78W99-73
2/11@La Salle233W77-68
2/14@Richmond160W78-67
2/17G Washington85W89-75
2/20@St Louis41L88-75
2/28Fordham166W82-63
3/3George Mason96W70-65
3/6@Dayton78W68-62
3/13(N)Duquesne128W71-66
3/14(N)St Joseph's PA116W77-64
3/15(N)Dayton78W70-62