The Rome report

Last Monday night, I was one of the many in attendance who watched VCU pound George Mason, 71-50, to win the CAA tournament and secure a spot in the NCAA tournament.

As I watched fans pouring out of the stands and blowing past me, a couple of things came to mind.

The first thought I had was how happy I was for the players and coaches.

I went to several games during the season. Sometimes I went as a journalist and other times I went as a fan.

When you go as a journalist, you get to interview the players after the game and after a while, you kind of feel like you know the guys.

You have a better understanding of all of the hard work that the players and the coaching staff put into being a successful team. It does not take long to appreciate the work they do or the passion they share for the game.

So, when you see them accomplish a big goal, like winning the conference tournament, you cannot help but feel happy for them.

The other thing that came to mind was how happy I was that NCAA basketball does not have a Bowl Championship Series system. I know it sounds funny to think about that kind of thing at that time but I could not help it.

No matter what you think about the BCS system, no one can deny that if college basketball had a BCS system, the jubilation of the players, coaches and fans would not have been as high.

I am happy that college basketball gives automatic NCAA tournament bids to conference tournament winners.

The system gives non-BCS conferences a fair chance to play
for the title.

College football’s BCS system does not do that.

The Rams would have had a hard time getting an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but since they won the CAA tournament, they don’t have to worry about it.

This is not the case with the BCS as we have seen undefeated schools not even get a chance to compete for the title. This mainly applies to smaller schools like Boise State and Utah, but even an undefeated Auburn did not have the chance to compete for the championship in 2004.

The Rams are in the NCAA tournament and they will get their chance to win the title. Will they be a favorite to win it all? No, they will not, but they have a chance and that is all they want.

Being a smaller school and coming from a smaller conference should not exclude you from competing for the title. Maybe college football will figure that out.

But if they do not, we still have the NCAA tournament, where Cinderellas can happen. Maybe the Rams can be the next Villanova or N.C. State.

It is unlikely they will, but at least they have a chance.