Wichita Revival: VCU ‘shocks’ life back into season with win over WSU

Adam Stern
Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times Sports’ Twitter

No more than a week ago, VCU’s men’s basketball had everything to lose.

They had a grip on first place that they’d held for a month, as well as the nation’s fourth-longest active home winning streak. They also hadn’t lost two games in a row since last season and, perhaps most importantly, possessed an increasingly likely look at an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

But by the time the final seconds crept off the clock last Tuesday – in a literally deserted Siegel Center – after George Mason slaughtered the Rams, the answer to the question of what VCU had to lose in their season suddenly became apparent.

Nothing.

They played like it in their 68 – 67 against Wichita State Friday night.

The result is a godsend for VCU, who had not just their season, but their aspirations turned upside down in such a short span of time.

The Rams proved that a sense of urgency with a rekindling of confidence can be a deadly combination.

Yet the question can’t be erased at this point: Where do they go from here?

The Rams’ BracketBusters win this year is critical. But overall, success in the competition hasn’t proven to be purposeful.

“I think you’d have a hard time of finding evidence that has it ever helped anybody,” said Jerry Palm, owner and operator of CollegeRPI.com.

At the very least, the win will bring VCU some much needed rebounding in their RPI score, which took a nosedive after last week’s losses to Old Dominion and George Mason, in addition to their road loss to Northeastern earlier this month.

“I thought as long as (VCU) won the league, they had a shot,” Palm said in reference to VCU’s chances before their losses last week. “Once you fall out of first place, it’s very difficult because they didn’t do much out of conference, so they were really going to have to do it in the league.”

Palm didn’t think the Rams’ shot at an at-large bid were dead, but he said they were on their last lifeline. And even though the conference is having one of its best seasons ever, he is convinced the conference will be as well represented in the NCAA Tournament as they should be.

“It’s high major-centric because that’s where the best players and teams are,” Palm said. “I think non-majors are represented as well as they can be, but the reality is the vast majority of the best players are at the big schools.”

George Mason should join those ranks soon. The Patriots are riding a 13-game winning streak, the longest in the nation, and they are blowing out opposing teams in the process.

Are they now the proverbial lock for the field of 68?

“I think if they get through the rest of the season without a bad loss, they’re probably a lock,” Palm said. “When you play in leagues like the CAA, the worst thing you can do is take bad losses because you don’t have a lot of chances to make up for them.”

Palm said he currently has Old Dominion and George Mason in his projected field, with eight and nine seeds respectively.

VCU’s chances remain, but they almost certainly now run through the conference tournament.

Friday’s win – as tough a victory as the Rams have had to grit out this season – ensured they do remain and that they still haven’t lost three games since December 2004 during the Jeff Capel era.

Records remain intact; and VCU will be one of the favorites to win the conference title. There are still things to play for.

For now, that’s all that matters.

—
Photo by: Kyle Laferierre