Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament: VCU versus the field in Brooklyn

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 08: A general view as the George Washington Colonials play the Saint Louis Billikens during the second half in the Second Round of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

1 of 4

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 13: A detailed view of a Spalding basketball during a quarterfinal game between the Davidson Wildcats and La Salle Explorers in the 2015 Men’s Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at the Barclays Center on March 13, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images) /

After being picked to finish 7th in the preseason coaches’ poll, the VCU Rams have their sights set on the Atlantic 10 Basketball trophy.

Vegas has spoken. The 16-2 VCU Rams are officially -125 to win the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament. The Dayton Flyers have the second most favorable odds at +300, and rest of the teams fall somewhere between there and +12500. That alone should tell you just how lethal this VCU team, which is in the midst of a twelve game winning streak, should be this week in Brooklyn.

It’s safe to say that no one during the offseason (or even most of the season, really) was expecting this type of performance from the Rams, but it’s pretty clear by this point that they are head and shoulders above the rest of the A10. Likely the only at-large team in the conference, they’re thirty-four spots ahead of second-best Dayton in the NET rankings (31 vs. 65) and they were certainly the only team receiving votes (53 of them) in the latest AP poll.

The metrics might give off the impression that VCU has been slaughtering the competition recently, but that would be, well … correct. Over the course of their twelve game winning streak, they’ve won each game by an average of 16.83 points, and only four teams have kept the margin of defeat inside single-digit territory. The Rams don’t barrage teams with a relentless, high-powered offensive attack, but instead wear them down with one of the nation’s most elite defenses. According to Kenpom.com, they currently rank fifth among Division I teams in overall defensive efficiency and second in opponent field goal percentage.

The bottom line here is that the Rams are not unbeatable on a neutral site, but it’s easy to see why they are such heavy favorites heading into this bloodbath that awaits us at the Barclay’s Center.

Home/Atlantic 10