Dateline: Richmond, Virginia.

The destination…the Aeropostale CAA Championship from March 2^nd to March 5^th.

VCU's Anthony Grant hopes to capture
both regular-season and conference titles
during his first year in Richmond.

Seriously, if you can…be there.
This is one of the most underrated conference tournaments going today.

Just about every year, the first-round provides a stunning game on Friday Night. Just about every year, one of the big dogs gets bit by Cinderella…if only for a night. Just about every year, the crowd is packed (with far too many screaming fans from UNC-W). Just about every year, the championship game brings plenty of drama and a deserving champion.

Here’s hoping this year is no different.
So now it’s time to have a ramblin’ man’s ramblin’ preview. -

Let’s take a look at each of the teams, with a quick one-liner.
#1. VCU [24-6, 16-2]
-Easily the surprise of the year in-conference (picked pre-season to finish 6th). While the Bracketbuster-loss to MVC's Bradley may have them desperate for a title-game appearance for an at-large bid (at best), this is a hungry team that loves to run, shoots the deep-ball as well as anyone in the conference, and can hopefully use the Richmond-area advantage to land their first conference title in three years.

#2. Old Dominion [23-7, 15-3]
-As hot as any team in the country, Blaine Taylor’s crew has gotten real physical and must continue to ride captain Drew Williamson, just as they have throughout their recent 11-game winning streak, if they can punch an automatic ticket to the Big Dance. They come into Richmond as the team to beat, barely.

#3. Hofstra [22-8, 14-4]
-Perhaps a little too under the radar entering Richmond, following one of their best tournament runs in recent memory last year’s (which ended in a CAA Title game defeat to UNC-W), the Pride must ride CAA Player of the Year Loren Stokes (20.8 ppg) to earn their spot in March Madness. The Pride must have the poise and deft shooting touch necessary to control games in the closing minutes for their playmakers to secure close victories.

#4. Drexel [22-7, 13-5]
-A resume that has STACKED road wins [@Cuse,@Vermont,@Villanova] and yet they remain an underdog as a 4-seed. It will be a tough road, but the Dragons are healthy and Mejia is finally starting to sink key shots, after a season I would describe as nothign but hype. Look out for Bruiser’s Dragons though.

#5. Northeastern [12-18,9-9]
-Still getting used to the CAA, a .500-record shows that they played well enough in-conference to be considered trouble in the tournament.

#6. George Mason [15-14, 9-9]
-Never doubt the heart of a champion. 4 Days in Richmond is all it takes. This is not the type of team you want to face if they start making open shots and start feeling confident in themselves.

#7. Towson [14-16, 8-10]
-Gary Neal is the best ticket in town on Friday night. Despite hitting a few too many lumps early this season, Towson has started to make solid strides over the past five seasons in CAA-play.

#8. William and Mary [15-14, 8-10]
-Very young and very hard to read. Should be an entertaining team to check out on Friday night…but nothing more.

#9. Georgia State [10-19, 5-13]
-Wow, quite the drop off as of here. Yet, they almost stunned VCU to close the season (losing 70-72). They may get a re-match with the Rams on Saturday afternoon. Might not go nearly as well for them though.

#10. UNC-Wilmington [7-21, 4-14]
-Took a lot more lumps than many expected in a 'transition year'. Nevertheless, this squad won the CAA title last year and is the toughest 10-seed you’re likely to find in a conference tourney this season.

#11. James Madison [7-22, 4-14]
-There’s not much positive to talk about on the basketball court in Harrisonburg this year (or most years as of late for that matter). Take advantage of Friday night as much as you can against Jorge.

#12. Delaware [5-25, 3-15]
-An absolute embarrassment. Once a legit second-tier team, the Blue Hens were downright abysmal this season and have zero shot to win on Friday night. Zero.

So there we have it. I’ll be there most of the weekend (I attend VCU in case you didn’t already know). Hopefully I'll be enjoying the action much longer than a few others might suppose as a Ram-supporter (in true Clement-fasion, if we lose...I'm out of that Colesium immediately).

Prediction: Old Dominion is a wrecking crew lately. They manhandled Hofstra in Norfolk only a few weeks ago and wore VCU down in a key home-victory over the Rams only a month ago. Nevertheless, their physical style may lead to more than some wear and tear by Monday night. Look for VCU to escape with a narrow victory over Drexel and match up with their big-time rival, OD-Spew, for a classic at 7pm on ESPN for the CAA Title. Who will win? You know its bad luck if you pick your school to…see you Monday night.