VCU basketball faces tough non-conference slate
Free Press staff report | 8/1/2024, 6 p.m.
Virginia Commonwealth University’s men’s basketball team faces a challenging 2024-25 non-conference schedule, including potential matchups with five NCAA Tournament teams and two recent Final Four participants.
The Rams’ 13-game non-conference slate, released Monday, features possible games against nine teams that finished last season in the top 125 of the NCAA NET rankings. Seven of these potential opponents were top-100 NET teams last year.
According to Barttorvik.com’s 2024-25 NET Forecast, VCU’s schedule includes six potential Quad 1 and Quad 2 road or neutral contests.
The Rams open their 57th season on Nov. 4, hosting Bellarmine at the Stuart C. Siegel Center.
VCU will play Boston College in the Veterans Classic in Annapolis, Md., on Nov. 8. The team will face Colorado State in the Jack Jones Classic in Las Vegas on Dec. 14, followed by a Dec. 18 game at New Mexico.
The Rams will participate in the Shriners Children’s Hospital Charleston Classic from Nov. 21-24 in South Carolina. The tournament field includes three 2024 NCAA Tournament teams and 2024 NIT Champion Seton Hall.
VCU also will host Merrimack, Loyola (Md.), Georgia Southern, Penn, and William & Mary at home.
Second-year Coach Ryan Odom leads VCU after a 24-14 season in 2023-24, which saw the Rams reach the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship Game and the Postseason NIT quarterfinals.
The team returns three starters and nearly 70% of its scorers, including All-Atlantic 10 First Team selection Max Shulga from Kyiv, Ukraine.
The 2024-25 Atlantic 10 Conference schedule, game times, and TV information will be announced later. Season tickets are on sale.