The first conference championship matchup is set. The top two seeds in the Big South, Radford and Virginia Military Institute (VMI), will clash at 4 pm on Saturday (ESPN2) for the right to Dance. Most of you probably have no intention of watching this game, but trust me - you should.
VMI employs perhaps the most bizarre playing style of any team in Division I. Their offense essentially consists of running down the floor and chucking up 3-point shots as fast as they can, and their staple defense is a frenzied full court press. They are truly a spectacle to behold. (As Tim Layden notes in this quality SI feature on the team, this wild style is a welcome contrast to the hard-nosed discipline that otherwise dominates the players' lives at this military institution.)
It's also made VMI a team of statistical extremes. Of the 344 Division I teams, VMI is ranked first in both pace (number of possessions per game) and percentage of shots taken from behind the 3-pt line. And it's not even close in either category. They average 81 possessions per game, a full 5 possessions more than the second fastest team in the country. And 54.1% of their shot attempts are 3-pointers - no other team in the country surpasses the 50% mark. Defensively, they are ranked 4th in turnover percentage, but dead last in defensive rebounding and third worst in effective field goal percentage.
You might think that this kind of undisciplined offense and indiscriminately aggressive defense would be a toxic combination, but VMI is 23-7 on the year, 13-5 in conference play. And they famously began the season with a 111-103 win over Kentucky at Rupp Arena (which the Wildcats have now bookended with an even more humiliating loss, much to this Hoosier fan's glee).
Oh yeah, and their coach's name is Duggar Baucom.
Radford has made one trip to the Tournament (1998) in their history and VMI hasn't been there in 32 years. The two teams split their two regular season matchups. Don't miss it.
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