From First Four to Final Four: Virginia Commonwealth's Impossible Title Run

PG Joey Rodriguez and the VCU Rams have gone from cinderellas to contenders
(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

On Selection Sunday,Virginia Commonwealth head coach Shaka Smart wasn't even watching the selection show, because he admitted he didn't even think they would even be considered for an NCAA Tournament bid. Needless to say when they were selected, Shaka was in shock. His 23-11 VCU Rams were in the tournament, but not without a challenge ahead of them. They had been selected as one of the inaugural First Four, the NCAA's new first round because of the reconfigured 68-team bracket. From there, they have gone on to playing spoiler in this year's NCAA Tournament, reaching the Final Four for the first time in school history.

To start their run, they had to take on a good USC Trojan team just to advance to the round of 64. They took advantage of their situation, With forward Jamie Skeen leading the way with 16 points, and point guard Joey Rodriguez scoring 8 with five assists, while disposing of the Trojans by 13 points. Throughout the game, they played good, hard defense, a hallmark all season for this VCU Rams squad.

The magic continued in the round of 64, where they faced a much bigger and quicker Georgetown team. The Hoyas' had regained their team captain Chris Wright from an injury that had hampered him for the better half of the season, but he couldn't make a big enough difference for them, scoring just six points. The struggle to score was common throughout the game for Georgetown, who was shut down by the stifling defense of the Rams. VCU held the Hoyas' to just 38% from the field, and a slim 19% from three point range. The Hoyas' starters went 0 for 16 from three, due to the fantastic perimeter defense of the VCU guards, and scored under half of the teams total points. VCU used the three pointer as their X-factor, shooting 48% from downtown.

In the round of 32, the Rams faced an extremely mature and talented team in 3rd seeded Purdue, but didn't even think twice about what everyone else said. On the back of rising star Joey Rodriguez, they thoroughly dismantled the Boilermakers. Rodriguez had by far the best game of his tournament, scoring 12 points, while dishing 11 assists with an astonishing zero turnovers. The hallmark for them in this game was the great balance of offense, getting it in the post to their bigs, while shooting the three with accuracy and when it was very timely. The confidence of VCU grew a lot that night and through each game that they played from there on out.

The VCU Rams came from relative obscurity into the national spotlight
(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The beat Florida State, the nations #1 defense, by shooting the three and holding off their bigs inside, winning an overtime thriller, 72-71. In the Elite Eight, they played great perimeter defense, holding the most efficient offense in the country, Kansas, to under 20% from three, while they shot 12-25 from beyond the arc. The three pointer kept them ahead all game, and Wake Forest transfer Jamie Skeen used his versatility to stretch out the Jayhawks defense. They proved that they can beat the best of the best at their own games by out-coaching and out-hustling other teams to the point of exhaustion.

VCU is this year's Butler Bulldogs, and that is ironically who they play next. The Bulldogs have played fantastic throughout the entire tournament as well, out-scheming their opponents, most noteably No. 1 seed Pitt and No. 2 seed Florida. Butler, an undersized team, has managed to play blue collar defense, play scrappy, and come up with baskets at the most opportune times. VCU has many of the same characteristics, but will have to find a way to contain the inside-outside threat of Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack, Butler's best players. But if the Rams past games are any indication, they should do just fine. Versus Georgetown, they shut down all of their starters, including stars Austin Freeman, Jason Clark, and Chris Wright. Together, the three only scored 25 points, when they average 42 points per game. Against Kansas, the Rams shut down all of the players as a whole by getting to the rim and drawing fouls, which made it much more difficult on the Jayhawks to get any rhythm going.

Virginia Commonwealth's run has been the highlight of the NCAA tournament, and have put an exclamation mark on why the new 68-tean field is here to stay. Their cinderella run, led by great coaching and a balanced attack on both ends have made VCU a threat to win it all this year, they just have to play smart and not change what got them this far into the tournament.