The VCU Rams have a last chance to leave their fans with a memory better than losing to archrival Old Dominion in the CAA semifinals. Why the NIT snubbed VCU (22-9) is a mystery to me.

So, VCU dropped to the pay-to-play College Basketball Invitational. In the first round the Rams are matched up against George Washington (16-14) of the A-10. The game will be played on Tues. (at 7 p.m.) at the Smith Center in DeeCee.

*

The following information was provided by Scott Day, VCU Director of Athletic Communications:

While it may have been a weekend full of rain and gloomy clouds in the Metro Richmond area, fans of the Virginia Commonwealth University men’s basketball program got a ray of sunshine Sunday night.

That ray of sunshine came when it was announced that the Black & Gold’s 2009-10 season will continue in the 2010 College Basketball Invitational. This will be the sixth time in the past seven years that the Rams have participated in postseason basketball.

VCU will open up play in the CBI with a 7 p.m. showdown at Atlantic-10 foe George Washington on Tuesday, March 16. The game will be shown live on HDNet, which is available on DirecTV, Dish Network and Verzion FIOS.

A total of 16 teams will play in the tournament with first round play on March 16th and 17th, quarterfinals on March 22nd and semifinals on March 24th. The Championship Series is a three-game series played on March 29th, March 31st and April 2nd.

The Colonials’ wrapped up their season with a 16-14 overall record and a 6-10 mark in conference play after dropping a 70-60 decision at Dayton in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

Leading George Washington is the backcourt duo of senior Damian Hollis (13.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Lasan Kromah (11.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg). Both players earned all-conference honors with Hollis being named A-10 Third Team and Kromah to the All-Rookie team.

Ticket information will be made available on VCUathletics.com as soon as possible.