By Tim Pearrell

Ramblings on a rather warm train on the way to cold Philadelphia:
* Should VCU be ranked? Not unless the Rams beat Drexel at Drexel. VCU was ranked 33rd in this week’s polls, which probably is about right given that the Rams’ schedule hasn’t included a lot of tough teams. VCU (17-3) doesn’t have that eye-opening victory over a big-name nonconference opponent. That raises the how-good-are-they question among national voters who haven’t seen the Rams play. Beating Old Dominion (13-7), George Mason (11-8) at Mason, and Drexel (15-4) at Drexel should legitimize VCU’s record.
* Will the Colonial Athletic Association get more than one bid to the NCAA tournament? Given that two teams went last year, and one (Mason) went to the Final Four, you would have to think the committee will dole out two bids based on last year alone.
Three bids? The conference’s RPI is a little troubling to see that happening. The CAA was rated 13th among conferences by Collegiate Basketball News. Drexel, with wins over Villanova and Syracuse, is 41st. Hofstra is 64th, VCU 74th, ODU 90th and George Mason 97th.
The CAA is 0-9 against the ACC, 4-7 against the Big East, 0-1 against the Big Ten, 1-2 against the Big 12, 6-5 against the Atlantic 10 and 4-0 against Conference USA.
BracketBuster matchups that will be announced Monday should help some in the RPI department.
* There is a clear divide in the conference among the top five teams (VCU, Hofstra, Drexel, ODU and Mason) and the other seven. Four teams get a bye in the first round of the conference tournament. That means somebody will get left out and be in the unenviable position of having to play on the first day.
* Point guard Eric Maynor showed another facet of his game Wednesday against George Mason. While Maynor had a tough shooting night (2-8) and was limited to eight points, he had 10 assists and 10 rebounds. Repeat, 10 rebounds. That’s almost unbelievable from a point guard. Maynor collects a lot of rebounds by drifting into the paint and alertly tracking the ball when his front-court mates block out.

* VCU used the same tactic other teams use against George Mason by double-teaming 6-7 forward Will Thomas anytime he got the ball in the low post. Thomas is so good around the basket you have to double him. But that leaves the perimeter open when Thomas passes the ball back out. Mason had a lot of open 3-pointers and couldn’t knock them down (5 of 17). That may not be the case next time.
* Watching 6-7, 190-pound Michael Anderson trying to body up on Mason’s 6-7, 260-pound Darryl Monroe was like watching the guy trying to hold the door against an angry mob. With Thomas on the bench with foul trouble, Monroe had a career-high 14 points in the first half. But he took just one shot in the second half, primarily because Thomas was back in the game and the Patriots run their offense through him. The Rams have trouble guarding big bodies.