Buster: Rams to visit Nevada

The Virginia Commonwealth men's basketball team will travel to Nevada for its ESPNU BracketBusters matchup.

The question is whether the Rams' first trip to the land of casinos will pay off in terms of enhancing their postseason résumé.

VCU (16-6) was paired with the University of Nevada (13-. The teams, which have never met, will play in Reno on Feb. 20 in one of 13 nationally televised games. The channel -- either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN360.com -- and game time will be released on Feb. 9.

BracketBusters tries to matches mid-major teams and helps some improve their credentials for at-large spots in the NCAA tournament.

The Colonial Athletic Association has three teams that could use a boost in Rating Percentage Index, one of the criteria used by the NCAA tournament selection committee to pick at-large teams. RPI measures winning percentage, opponents' winning percentage and opponents' strength of schedule.

Northeastern ranks 57th in the RPI, George Mason 60th, VCU 61st.

The CAA most likely is a one-bid league this year because no team really produced eye-catching wins in nonconference play. But playing and beating a team with a higher RPI -- especially on the road -- might help a team that does not earn the league's automatic NCAA bid by winning the CAA tournament.

VCU, George Mason and Northeastern were designated as road teams for BracketBusters and none ended up with teams with higher ratings.

Nevada has won five consecutive Western Athletic Conference regular-season championships and has won at least 20 games in each of those seasons. While RPI changes as the season progresses, the Wolf Pack is ranked 90th, according to rpiratings.com, the site used for the BracketBusters matchups.

Mason (15-6) goes to Creighton (17-6, 74th in RPI). Northeastern (15-6) goes to Wright State (13-9, 101st). Both of those games will be played on Feb. 21.

VCU coach Anthony Grant said he doesn't pay attention to RPI. He praised Nevada coach Mark Fox for his "championship-caliber team" and said the game will be "a great challenge for our team and a chance to get some exposure for VCU and the league with a national TV audience."

In another televised game, Old Dominion (13- will be at home against Liberty (16-7). In games not on TV, Gardner-Webb (10-10) will visit James Madison(14-9), and Manhattan (11-10) will play at William and Mary (6-15). All of those games are on Feb. 21.