Now the Rams will represent the Atlantic-10 in the Big Dance as its automatic bid. VCU completed victories against those three teams, finishing the conference tournament Sunday with a 71-65 victory over Dayton.
MORE: Field of 68 | Automatic bids | Must-see tourney photos
Make it five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for VCU and six in the past 10 years. This A-10 tournament title is the Rams’ first; they lost in each of the past two championship games.
The Rams, the tournament’s fifth seed, began their run Thursday with a win at Fordham. Then they knocked out Richmond, which beat them in double overtime Feb. 25. Then came a win over Dayton, which won on VCU’s home court Feb. 28. And then Sunday’s win over the Flyers, who dismantled the Rams 82-55 on March 5.
They’ve done it all without star senior guard Briante Weber, who tore the ACL and MCL in his right knee on Jan. 31, ending his college career.
MORE: Weber jumps for joy | Inside Kentucky’s perfection
Others picked up their game in his absence. On Sunday, it was Treveon Graham, who took over the game with a double-double on 20 points and 13 rebounds. JeQuan Lewis scored 15 points and Mo Alie-Cox and Terry Larrier added 13 apiece.
Dayton (25-8) was the No. 2 seed in the A-10 tourney.
The Rams (26-9) will continue their run as a Cinderella team in the NCAA Tournament. They did it in 2011, when as a No. 11 seed they staged one of the most memorable runs by a mid-major in history, making it all the way to the Final Four.
