2011 NCAA Tournament - First Four

The inaugural "First Four" tipped off the 2011 NCAA Tournament on Tuesday night. The first game was a thriller between UNC-Asheville and Arkansas-Little Rock. Asheville trailed throughout most of the game but hit a late three to force OT and eventually advance to play Pitt. The second game was a snoozer that had Clemson thoroughly beat UAB, and prove that maybe some of the talking heads were correct in saying UAB didn't belong. Wednesday's games feature another evenly matched 16 seed game between UT-San Antonio and Alabama St. and another game between two teams that many feel did not belong in the field to begin with in USC and VCU.

16 UT-San Antonio -3.5 vs. 16 Alabama St.

UT-San Antonio and Alabama St. square off on Wednesday night for the right to move on to Cleveland and face the top ranked Ohio St. Buckeyes. Alabama St. is the only team in the field without a winning record. In fact at 17-17, the Hornets would be over .500 for the first time all season with a victory over UTSA. The Roadrunners hovered around the .500 mark throughout much of their season, before flipping a switch once the calendar turned to March. UTSA has won 5 straight which lead them to the Southland crown. Look for them to continue their hot streak through March and reach the Big Dance for the first time since 2004.

Prediction - UT-San Antonio 63 Alabama St. 59

11 USC -4.5 vs. 11 VCU

USC and VCU end the "First Four" with the late game on Wednesday. USC enters the game with a 19-14 record, that included some very erratic play. The Trojans had some great wins, beating 5 tournament teams, but also lost 9 games to teams that won't be playing in the Big Dance. VCU's admission into the tournament was deemed "laughable" just like UAB's. VCU and their coach, Shaka Smart, view their team's current perception as fuel to their fire. The Rams have a very talented team that battled through a tough Colonial schedule. I see this game being very close. It will come down to USC big man Nikola Vucevic taking over. VCU is a poor rebounding team, and the Trojans' size will win it in the end. Don't think that VCU won;t go down without a fight though.

Prediction - USC 62 VCU 61

Ringer's NCAA Tournament Record
SU: 2-0
ATS: 2-0