Jay Bilas was serious when he said Virginia Commonwealth University shouldn’t be in the NCAA Tournament.
The ESPN analyst spoke to Michael Hiestand of USA Today and he still thinks the Rams aren’t worthy, despite advancing to the Final Four:
“He still doesn’t think VCU, in the Final Four, deserved to be in the tournament.
AdvertisementThe night the NCAA field was announced, Bilas led an on-air ESPN chorus – with Dick Vitale and Hubert Davis – arguing left-out teams such as Virginia Tech and Colorado should have been in before VCU and Alabama at Birmingham. Their inclusion, he said, failed “the laugh test.”
Bilas has tweeted, “Crow: actually it tastes like chicken. Are they serving it at the VCU banquet?”
But don’t get the wrong idea.
That UAB lost its opener doesn’t make him right – “and I didn’t say a word then,” he says – and that VCU is on a run doesn’t make him wrong. He says it’s not personal – he spoke at VCU’s team banquet five years ago – but the Rams’ roll is irrelevant: “Based on what they and other teams had accomplished, those other teams should have gotten in first. … Tournament performance is totally different.””
Really Jay? What else does VCU have to do? Win the NCAA Tournament?