Virginia Commonwealth has this to say to all the vocal analysts who felt the Rams didn't deserve an at-large spot in this year's NCAA Tournament.
Look at the scoreboard.
The 11th-seeded Rams from the Colonial Athletic Association have beaten USC, Georgetown and Purdue - teams from the Pac-10, Big East and Big Ten - by an average of 16.3 points. With tenacious defense and solid 3-point shooting, they are making their first trip to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.
They will arrive with a huge chip and comparisons to another team from their conference, George Mason, which made a Cinderella run to the Final Four in 2006.
"That's fine," senior forward Jamie Skeen said. "They've tagged us with everything else. They said we weren't supposed to be here. Look at us now."
VCU made a huge statement for non-BCS schools everywhere, overwhelming the heavily favored, third-seeded Boilermakers, 94-76, Sunday night in Chicago, shooting 60% and turning loose Bradford Burgess. The 6-6 junior scored 23 points in the paint to propel VCU into a Friday night matchup against 10th-seeded Florida State in the Southwest Region semis in San Antonio.
"You watch them on a four- or five-game stretch and you literally think they can beat anybody in the country," Purdue coach Matt Painter said.
VCU has destroyed a lot of office pools.
The Rams' success has cast a giant spotlight on the Virginia state capital of Richmond, which is the home of not one, but two teams in the Sweet 16. The 12th-seeded University of Richmond also advanced to the Southwest Region semis, defeating Morehead State, 65-48, Saturday to set up a matchup against top-seeded Kansas. This is the first time two teams from the same city have reached the Sweet 16 since 2007, when UCLA and USC did it. The Richmond Times-Dispatch is referring to the city as Hoopstown, USA.
The two schools have stark differences. VCU is an urban campus that has slowly built a residential community and did not have an on-campus arena until the 7,500-seat Siegal Center was built 10 years ago. Richmond is more of a suburban campus and the quintessential school for Southern aristocracy. The annual Richmond-VCU rivalry is called the "Black and Blue Game." There are often chants from Richmond Spiders fans directed toward the VCU student section: "Employer, Employee."
But both universities have developed basketball traditions through financial commitments and inspired coaching hires.
VCU hired Shaka Smart, a former assistant on Billy Donovan's staff at Florida, two years ago. Richmond took a shot on Chris Mooney six years ago after the former Princeton player coached a year at Air Force.
The 33-year-old Smart is the second-youngest coach in the tournament and has had instant success with a team filled with juniors and seniors, including Burgess, Skeen and senior guard Joey Rodriguez .
Richmond gave Mooney a five-year deal so he would feel no pressure to win right away. He has repaid the Spiders by methodically developing a solid program that has some star power in 6-10 forward Justin Harper - a potential first-round draft pick - and mighty mite guard Kevin Anderson .
VCU and Richmond are both tired of being labeled mid-major programs by BCS programs that want to relegate them and others like them to second-tier status. The city of Richmond has as many teams left as the entire Big East, which started with 11.
You do the math.