Charleston vs. Virginia Commonwealth Odds & Pick: March 22nd 2010

Charleston vs. Virginia Commonwealth
Free Pick: Charleston +12.5 -110 odds
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This line is extremely high for two teams that are not that far off from each other. Both College of Charleston and VCU won their first round games on the road and it is the Rams that get to host another game. Even though VCU won the first game in this CBI tournament, it is not especially happy about being here. It was far from a solid effort against George Washington as that game resembled one with two teams weren’t thrilled with looking for the win and it came down to who didn’t want to lose more. While winning that first game usually helps the motivating factor going forward, I’m not sure how much it will help here. The Rams were disappointed at being snubbed by the NIT and they were not shy about letting people know. The Rams tied for fifth in the CAA regular season and knew they had to win the tournament to make the NCAA field. After losing to Old Dominion in overtime in the CAA semifinals, finishing with an RPI of 66 and a strength of schedule of 142, the 32-team NIT seemed a certain fallback. Eleven at-large teams with RPI’s not as good as VCU’s were selected ahead of the Rams. “I’d say shock would be putting it mildly. Shock along with disbelief,” VCU Athletic Director Norwood Teague said of his reaction. “I don’t think there’s any way that you can defend [that with] what we’ve done, after all the preaching we get at the mid-major level about our RPI and [11] at-larges had an RPI higher than ours.” The thing is that is actually costs the home team roughly $60,000 to host one of these games plus pay the expenses of the opponents so it is safe to say the Rams would rather be on the road. The Cougars were one of the last teams selected to have their season continue when they were chosen to the field for the CBI. While it isn’t the NCAA Tournament, which was the Cougars’ ultimate goal, head coach Bobby Cremins will be more than happy to get his seniors a couple more games, not to mention get some more court time for a couple of younger players. Charleston won at Eastern Kentucky in the opening round with a depleted roster as five players did not make the trip due to academic issues but most are back tonight even though the playing time for each is small. The matchup is pretty even and Charleston is 6-0 ATS this season coming off a road win as well as being 9-2 ATS this season coming off a win by six points or less. 3* College of Charleston Cougars