Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth

The Richmond Spiders took center stage last season, making a deep and impressive run in the NCAA Tournament before bowing out to Kansas. VCU made an even more impressive run that took them all the way to the Final Four before losing to Butler. So the question is who has more pieces left from those teams? VCU has held serve vs. all the teams they have faced outside of the major conferences. They have a win against one as well, so they are battle tested and have always been tough at home where they are 2-0 this year. This will also be the fifth straight game away from home for the Spiders, and without the depth they had last year, they will likely fade late in this game. VCU has allowed a ridiculously low 51.5 points per game in this building this year and their defense will make the difference. The Rams have produced a 12-6 straight-up mark the past two seasons vs. good teams (.600+). Over that same span, they are 9-1 straight-up after a good defensive effort (allowed 60 or fewer points last game). Finally, under Shaka Smart, the Rams are 19-4 in home games. While the spread may come into play, I really like VCU to get the win here.