The NCAA college basketball season is off to a fast start and with a number of big games going down on Tuesday night, one of the less heralded matchups includes VCU taking on Virginia from John Paul Jones Arena and the game will start up at 7:00 pm and will be on television on ESPN2 and streaming online from Watch ESPN.
The game puts together two state rivals and a VCU team that has only grown in stature over the past couple seasons and they are coming off of a huge win against the Illinois state Redbirds and now they will hit the road for the first time to take on a top 25 team in the Cavaliers and it should be a very good matchup and is one of a number of games with two ranked teams playing each other. VCU has shown that it's one of the best defensive teams in the nation over the past two years and now they will go up against a solid team in Virginia and one of these two will leave the night with their first loss of the season. The two teams have not played since 1998, so they will not be very familiar with each other and as each season goes on, Shaka Smart gets his team more and more prepared and now the Cavaliers have sold out a game for the first time in nearly a decade.
Check here for the ESPN coverage for VCU and Virginia.
The Rams are ranked higher than Virginia and the teams will play in Charlottesville and is an early test for both teams and the excitement in the state is palpable and the Atlantic 10 team will try once again to wreak some havoc on the opposing team, as they play some very tough defense and run very fast on offense, likely pushing the Cavaliers to the brink on Tuesday night. The team made it to the Final Four two years ago and has been getting better and better since, heading to the tournament in three straight years and now they are ranked and fans see the team able to get even further this season, as they have a very talented recruiting class. VCU has Terrance Shannon after he transferred and he added 14 points in the opening game and this matchup should be much tougher than the Illinois State game was.
Virginia has some tough games ahead and they will play Wisconsin early next month and the team also has a tough schedule in the ACC, as they have tough games against NC State as well as Miami, Syracuse, Virginia Tech, Clemson and Boston College and they come in after defeating James Madison in their first game and that was a blowout by 20 points and this game against VCU should be much tougher. The two teams are facing off in a top 25 matchup and it is one of many solid games on Tuesday, as Michigan State will play against Kentucky in the Champions Classic and after that the Duke Blue Devils will take on the Kansas Jayhawks in a matchup of phenoms with Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker.
The VCU and Virginia game will start up at 7:00 pm from John Paul Jones Arena and will be on ESPN2 and Watch ESPN.