Commonwealth Power Rankings, March 11th

As of now, VCU and UVA should earn at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Norfolk St. has a good shot at earning an auto-bid in the MEAC and Liberty already punched their ticket. It’s March Madness!

March 11, 2013; 1:03 PM • by RVANews staff

March Madness struck early in the Commonwealth when 10th-seeded Liberty beat four of the five best teams from the Big South in five days. The Flames, who started the season 0-8 are just the second 20 loss team to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. So no matter how many losses a team has, never give up because automatic bids can give new life to a season…unless that team is banned from the conference tournament (here’s to you ODU).

As of now, VCU and UVA should earn at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament. Norfolk St. has a good shot at earning an auto-bid in the MEAC and Liberty already punched their ticket. James Madison has a big league game in the CAA Championship tonight against Northeastern. Ken Pomeroy projects them to lose 65-64 with a 46% chance of victory. If the Dukes win, they will be the seventh consecutive champion from the state of Virginia. It isn’t quite VCU-Drexel, but it should be an exciting finish to an interesting season in the CAA.

This season has been insane from the lowly Big South all the way through the mighty Big 10. If you don’t expect the unexpected, then you just haven’t been paying attention. March Madness is in full swing and seven of the Commonwealth’s teams haven’t even completed their conference tournaments. With the ACC, A-10, and MEAC Tournaments and Selection Sunday all happening in the next six days, this is a not-to-miss week for college basketball in the Commonwealth.

— ∮∮∮ —

1

4 PTS

VCU

24-7, 12-4

There’s no shame in losing to the #3 team in the A-10 on the road on senior night, but VCU will remember Sunday when they’re playing a #2 seed in the 3rd round of the NCAA Tournament.Aaron Williams

2

8 PTS

Virginia

21-10, 11-7

John Paul Jones remained faithful to the Cavaliers who just barely kept their tournament hopes alive with a 17-point comeback.Brian Leung

3

12 PTS

Norfolk State

21-10, 16-0

The Spartans finished the regular season on a 15-game winning streak and went a perfect 16-0 in MEAC regular season play, a first for Norfolk State, and just the fourth time in conference history.Gary Cope

4

16 PTS

Richmond

18-13, 8-8

Coach Mooney should be proud of almost beating VCU at the Siegel Center on senior night last week, then soundly securing its bid to the A-10 tournament on Saturday–but he SHOULD be terrified of UR’s 3-11 away record. Brooklyn isn’t exactly RVA.Joshua Grice

⬆5

23 PTS

JMU

19-14, 11-7

The Dukes are trying to punch their ticket as the second Virginia team to make the tournament. They could very well do it!Brian Leung

6⬇

24 PTS

Virginia Tech

13-18, 4-14

Erick Green is the first ACC player to lead the nation in scoring since South Carolina’s Grady Wallace did so in 1957. Green scored 35 points in a season-ending loss at wake forest, giving him 786 points this season, a new Hokie record, eclipsing Bimbo Coles’ mark of 785.Gary Cope

7

26 PTS

George Mason

18-14, 10-8

With VCU gone and Drexel and ODU imploding, how did the Patriots not run all over the CAA?Aaron Williams

8

33 PTS

Hampton

14-16, 11-5

The Pirates ARRRRR done for the year.Gary Cope

9

37 PTS

William & Mary

13-17, 7-11

Being the best shooting team in the CAA gets you nowhere if your defense ranks last.Aaron Williams

⬆10

40 PTS

Liberty

15-20, 6-10

I’m not sure this is what they mean when they talk about how much parity there is in college basketball these days?Brian Leung

11⬇

42 PTS

VMI

14-17, 8-8

The Keydets attempted 792 3-pointers this season, good for first in the nation.Aaron Williams

12

49 PTS

Radford

13-19, 7-9

Those two losses to Liberty don’t look so embarrassing now, do they?Gary Cope

13

53 PTS

Old Dominion

5-25, 3-15

ODU closed out its season with an upset of CAA regular-season champs, Northeastern. And, they STILL beat Virginia.Gary Cope

14

53 PTS

Longwood

8-25, 4-12

Longwood beating UNC Asheville is like ODU beating UVA, I will never understand.Aaron Williams

Contributors: Gary Cope (VT; TechHoops.com), Joshua Grice (UR; Richmond Rowdies), Brian Leung (UVA; StreakingTheLawn.com), Aaron Williams (VCU; RVANews)