The Virginia Commonwealth University Rams
are the athletic teams of Virginia Commonwealth University. The school's athletic program includes 16 NCAA Division I varsity sports which compete in the Colonial Athletic Association.
|
VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH RAMS TICKETS
EVENT | DATE | AVAILABILITY |
---|
Duquesne Dukes Women's Basketball vs. Virginia Commonwealth Rams Tickets 1/30 | Jan 30, 2025 Thu, 8:00 PM | | Virginia Commonwealth Rams vs. Richmond Spiders Tickets 2/1 | Feb 01, 2025 Sat, 4:00 PM | | Virginia Commonwealth Rams Women's Basketball vs. Davidson Wildcats Tickets 2/2 | Feb 02, 2025 Sun, 12:00 PM | | Virginia Commonwealth Rams vs. La Salle Explorers Tickets 2/4 | Feb 04, 2025 Tue, 7:00 PM | | George Mason Patriots Women's Basketball vs. Virginia Commonwealth Rams Tickets 2/5 | Feb 05, 2025 Wed, 7:00 PM | |
|
Championship teams
Men's basketball
The VCU men's basketball team defeated
George Mason to win the 2004 CAA championship and received an automatic bid to the
NCAA tournament. The Rams were seeded #13 in the East Rutherford Region and faced #4
Wake Forest in the first round in Raleigh, N.C. VCU led for much of the second half before the Demon Deacons prevailed 79-78. VCU was 19-13 in the 2005 season and finished second in the CAA with a 13-5 conference record and received a bid to the
NIT where they lost to
Davidson. In 2006, the Rams did not make a postseason appearance.
In
1985, VCU received an invitation to the NCAA men's basketball tournament as a #2 seed in its region, the highest seeding that the team has ever earned. However, it was upset in the second round of the tournament by #7 seed
Alabama.
Until 2006 the team was coached by
Jeff Capel, who at the time of his promotion to head coach in 2002 was the youngest coach in Division I NCAA basketball at 27 years old. During his time with VCU, Capel compiled a 79-41 record (.658), and in his first year earned VCU 18 wins, the most ever for a first-year coach at the school. In April 2006, Capel announced his decision to coach the
University of Oklahoma basketball team. He was replaced by
Anthony Grant,
[1] formerly an assistant head coach with the 2006 NCAA champions, the
University of Florida.
Regular season conference champs and first-seed VCU defeated sixth-seed George Mason in the CAA championship game on
March 5,
2007 to receive an automatic bid to the
2007 NCAA Tournament. The Rams defeated the Patriots in a close fought game 65-59 to set a school record for wins in a season, finishing 27-6. The Rams also set a mark for the most conference wins in the regular season by any team ever in the CAA, finishing their CAA campaign 16-2 in the regular season and 3-0 in the tournament. In the first round of the 2007 NCAA tourney the 11 seeded Rams upset 6 seeded
Duke by
Eric Maynor's game-winning buzzer-beater. VCU then lost in the second round to 3-seed
Pitt in overtime.
This was Grant's first conference championship as a head coach and the VCU Rams third CAA title since joining the league. Prior to the tournament, Grant was also named CAA Coach of the Year for his first year efforts breaking school records for wins in a season, wins by a first year head coach and setting the conference mark for conference wins in a season. Other CAA honors included the naming of Eric Maynor to the first team All-CAA roster, B.A. Walker to the second team All-CAA roster, Jesse Pellot-Rosa to the third team All-CAA roster, T.J. Gwynn to the All-CAA Rookie roster, and Calvin Roland to the All-CAA Academic roster.
In 2009, VCU was given an automatic invite to the NCAA tournament as the CAA champion.
Baseball
Men's Track & Field
The VCU men's track team won the 2006 CAA Conference Championship after placing second in the CAA's in the previous 2 years. The team was lead by Davion Lambert and James Frerson who were named the Field MVP and Track MVP respectively. The team is looking to be lead to another CAA victory with some old and new faces at the CAA Championships this year.
Other varsity sports
The VCU men's tennis team was ranked 14th pre-season by the
International Tennis Federation (ITA) in 2005, and has been nationally ranked in the top 50 since 1993. The Rams have had 13 straight NCAA tournament appearances and had won nine consecutive Colonial Athletic Association tournament crowns until being dethroned in the 2005 CAA tournament final by William and Mary. In 2000, the men's team reached the NCAA Finals after defeating Illinois (Quarterfinals) and Tennessee (Semifinals) respectively. In the finals, Stanford rallied to win the doubles and swept Virginia Commonwealth in the singles to claim its 17th NCAA men's tennis title 4-0.
The nationally ranked men's and women's soccer teams have both won CAA championships, having then advanced to national finals as well. In 2004, the VCU Men's soccer team went to the Quarterfinals and lost to NCAA runners up, the
UCSB Gauchos.
The Men's and Women's Track & Field Teams have also enjoyed success, having won multiple conference titles. The men's team won three consecutive outdoor track & field conference titles from 1994-1996 and an indoor track & field conference title in 1995. The first two conference titles came as a member of the Metro Conference and the third was won in the Colonial Athletic Association. VCU moved from the Metro Conference to the CAA in 1995 when the Metro was dissolved and many of the teams merged to form Conference USA. VCU's men's track & field team also won the 2006 Outdoor CAA Championships.
Club sports
The team took the 2005 Virginia Rugby Union and the
Mid-Atlantic Rugby Football Union Division III Collegiate Championships and received a bid to play in the East Coast Championship which was hosted by VCU April 22-24 of 2006. The team took fourth at the East Coast Championship tournament. Following their Division III success, they accepted an invitation to move to Division II in the Fall of 2006.
The began competitive play in 2004 with the . The club embraces players with and without experience in the sport, often giving new players the opportunity to excel at the club level alongside skilled ones. Rams Lacrosse competes in the Tidewater Division of the NCLL, against UNC-Wilmington, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, William & Mary, and cross-town rival University of Richmond. Club highlights include claiming first place in 2005 at the Old Dominion Shootout in Lynchburg over Liberty University, and their best-ever finish in 2007. The club claimed the Tidewater Division title and made it to the second round of the playoffs.
The team began in Fall 2005 and began play in Spring 2006. While they went just 1-7 in their inaugural season as an independent team, they are now a part of the in District 3 Conference of Division II play. They compete against other conference teams including Radford University, Washington & Lee University, Georgetown University, and University of Richmond. The team competed in 2007 as a member of the Division I Mid-Atlantic South Conference, finishing 4th out of 7 teams. In 2008, the team moved to Division II play, a newly created division for smaller schools and younger programs. In 2008, the team won their District title and advanced to the inaugural Division II World Series. There, they placed 4th, winning 2 games before falling in the double-elimination tournament.
The VCU Men's Club Basketball team began play in August 2004, playing other schools from around the state of Virginia. In January 2006, the team was taken over by first year coach Brandon Baker and began to expand the teams it played and their level of competition. The team is now 13-5 in the last year under their new coach and continue to expand and grow every semester.
The VCU men's
ice hockey team plays in the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference of the
American Collegiate Hockey Association. Their biggest ice hockey rival is the
University of Richmond. The VCU Rams ice hockey team clinched a playoff spot in the Northeast BRHC standings in the 2006-2007 season.
Rowdy Rams
The "Rowdy Rams" are the student supporters of the VCU Rams basketball team. The Rowdy Rams are known for causing difficulty for the visiting teams to focus when in possession of the ball or shooting free throws.
Stuart C. Siegel Center, which can be expanded to hold 8,000 students, has earned the reputation as one of the toughest places to play in the
Colonial Athletic Association behind the Rowdy Rams and the highly successful record of VCU's basketball team. Before every tip-off,
ACDC's Thunderstruck is used to fire up the crowd. The Rowdy Rams are known to sing and clap out
Rock and Roll (Gary Glitter song) during game play. Their most notable match-up,
Old Dominion University, comes out of a well documented rivalry going back to at least the 1980's when VCU and ODU were rivals in the Sunbelt Conference before later becoming rivals once again in the CAA. This rivalry brings the highest intensity out of the Rowdy Rams. As of 2008 the Rowdy Rams have extended their focus to include volleyball and soccer.
During the CAA Tournament the Rowdy Rams travel to
Richmond Coliseum. The Rowdy Rams are also known for traveling to most away games to give the basketball team home support due the short distance between most CAA teams. In recent years Rowdy Rams have become more raucous and louder than ever before due to the success of current coach
Anthony Grant who is under contract with the Rams until 2014. In the 2008
National Invitational Tournament (NIT) opener of VCU vs UAB (
University of Alabama at Birmingham) The
Stuart C. Siegel Center was recorded to have one of its loudest games in the history of the arena. A change in seating before the 2008-2009 was rumored to have effected the noise level, however the arena once again recorded extremely loud games against rivals
Old Dominion University,
George Mason University, and
Northeastern University. The Rowdy Rams have become easily identified by their Rowdy Rams 6th man shirts.
[2] [3]
Facilities
- The Diamond
- *Baseball
- Alltel Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center
- *Basketball
- *Volleyball
- *Cheerleading
- Sports Backers Stadium
- *Soccer
- *Track and Field
- Cary Street Field
- *Field Hockey
- Thalhimer Tennis Center
- Leigh Street Field
- *Men's and Women's Rugby
References
- ESPN - VCU hires Gators assistant Grant as new coach - Men's College Basketball
- Basketball fans pack the Siegel Center for Rams Madness
- Grant, VCU staying cool in CAA's heat