VCU Upsets

The lead was collapsing in on Virginia Commonwealth, the dream of a most remarkable NCAA tournament run finally flickering. Rams coach Shaka Smart had just earned a technical for charging toward an official at the Alamodome after calling a timeout on Sunday.

"I didn't even say anything, but I guess I charged out there a little bit faster than I should have," said Smart, 33. "I've got to control my pace as I move toward the officials."

The second year head coach then offered a blunt pep talk: "It was basically forget about the refs, forget Kansas,'' he said. "This is all about us, and we've got to do what we've got to do.''

When it was over, VCU had done it, taking out top-seeded Kansas, 71-61, in the NCAA Southwest Regional final. In the ensuing delirium, some fans began cheering at the sight of several older men in suits. "Selection committee," those fans yelled in tribute. The men indeed were part of the NCAA selection committee, sudden celebrities in the Virginia Commonwealth orbit after making the surprising decision to put the Rams into the tournament. Now the most unlikely team ever to reach the Final Four will face Butler on Saturday in an all-Cinderella matchup in Houston.

Officially, VCU (28-11) becomes the third No. 11 seed to advance to the Final Four, after LSU in 1986 and another Colonial Athletic Association miracle team, George Mason, in 2006. But sources said VCU really was a 12th seed, bumped up to an 11th seed because of all the bracket rules that keep teams from playing each other. If the NCAA hadn't expanded from 65 to 68 teams this season, VCU, a fourth place finisher in the Colonial Athletic Association, wouldn't have been in.

"Their players could play for us any day," Kansas coach Bill Self said after his team made just 2 of 21 three pointers and just 15 of 28 free throws. "If we played shirts and skins today, you wouldn't have much of a difference on players or how they look. They've got some good-looking kids. They got what they deserved today. They certainly outplayed us."

As Rams guards drained a barrage of first-half threes, racing to a shocking 18-point lead, there was no fear factor. VCU super-sub Brandon Rozzell dropped one of his four first-half three-pointers from right in front of the Kansas bench and then ran his mouth at that shell-shocked group.

Kansas (35-3), led by the twin tower Morris brothers of North Philadelphia, Marcus (20 points, 16 rebounds) and Markieff (13 points, 12 rebounds, 8 turnovers), got within two points. But VCU counterpunched.

Point guard Joey Rodriguez ignoring the air ball he had just thrown up, followed by a blocked layup attempt drained a three pointer off the dribble, pushing VCU's lead back out to 60-52 with five minutes left.

After Marcus Morris scored on a putback, Rodriguez drove and threw back outside to Bradford Burgess, who had made six three-pointers and the game winning shot Friday against Florida State. A wide open Burgess drained a three from the top of the key.

"That game was all about style of play," Smart said. "We got the style going the way that we wanted in the first half. And if you watched closely, their players were tugging on their shorts for much of the game."

VCU Is A Cinderella Sweet 16 Team

VCU's surprise run to the Sweet 16 has many evoking memories of another CAA team that made a deep NCAA Tournament run as a No. 11 seed. Here's the thing, though. VCU is different, and maybe even better, than the 2006 George Mason squad.

After the ESPN college hoops crew decided to eviscerate the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee for their inclusion of VCU in the Field of 68 (still weird to type), I decided as a CAA fan to become the SB Nation D.C. torchbearer for Shaka Smart's 2011 Rams basketball team. The premise was simple: VCU deserved to be in the field based on their body of work, and any subsequent wins would not be fluke upsets but rather a solid ball club simply winning games.

Well, I need to tap into the Gheorge The Blog petty cash fund and send Shaka a Harry and David sausage and cheese basket, because that premise looks pretty good in retrospect if I may say so myself. So, last night, in my Dallas hotel room, to prevent a Captain Willard-esque meltdown, I decided to pen another tome to this year's tournament darlings, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Problem was, much like Mr. Maguire, I didn't even know where to start. Is VCU this year's 2006 George Mason, as everyone is droning on and on about? Or, as I slowly realized over a 28-dollar room-service lasagna, is VCU instead wait for it this year's VCU?

Let me explain. Sure, Shaka Smart's 2011 team has some similarities to Jim Larranaga's 2006 bunch. Both are/were veteran mid-major squads with sneaky athleticism who play as a true team. Mason had five players average double figures during their 2005-2006 season; VCU has four guys averaging double figures this year. Both have personable and energetic coaches. Both played up the David vs. Goliath, Us against the World mentality (though as noted above I never felt VCU was a David and there's no way Shaka Smart really did either). Both have become the de-facto "Cinderellas" during their run.

But that's where the similarities end, at least to this observer. While George Mason scrapped and clawed their way to their magical Final Four run, having to stage rallies in each game they played, VCU has won three games in five days against major conference competition in dominating fashion. Just ask USC, Georgetown and Purdue what they think of the Rams.

"If you watched VCU a certain time in the season you wouldn't see what you just watched out there," Painter said. "Then you watch them during a four- or five-game stretch and you literally think, 'They can beat any team in the country.' I made that statement VCU can beat any team in the country on a neutral court. And I believe that. I was hoping that team wouldn't show up, but that team from VCU did show up."

VCU has won their first three tournament games by an average of 16 points per game behind tenacious, suffocating defense and solid three-point shooting. This should surprise no one, as VCU has excelled all season with a similar formula. But even I was stunned when totaling the numbers for these first three victories: 29 of 60 from behind the arc (48 percent) and 58 forced turnovers against just 18 Rams giveaways.

I would be remiss if I also didn't mention the good this VCU run is doing for the conference as a whole. Rather than pretending to be an expert on win shares and bid shares, I'll let CAA and UNC-Wilmington columnist Brian Mull explain.

VCU win worth another $1.4 million for the #CAA, bringing total to $9.8 million generated through NCAA Tourn...60 percent of this money ($4.2 million) will be split equally between the 12 CAA schools. The other 40 percent goes into an incentive pool.

In a nutshell, what's good for the goose (Rams) is good for the gander (CAA), or something hokey like that.