The Richmond Spiders have received a No. 12 seed in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Tournament bracket was just revealed on the Selection Sunday show on CBS, and the Spiders will be in the Southwest region. They will play Vanderbilt in the first round on Thursday in Denver. This is the second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance for Richmond, and the ninth total for the school.
Richmond (27-7) earned the Atlantic 10's automatic bid into the Big Dance with their 67-54 victory over the Dayton Flyers earlier today in Atlantic City, NJ. A veteran squad, the Spiders are led by senior forward Justin Harper (18 points per game, 7 rebounds per game, 46 percent three point shooter) and senior guard Kevin Anderson (16 ppg, 3 apg, 43 percent three point shooter). Anderson was named Atlantic 10 Tournament MVP in leading Coach Chris Mooney's squad to a victory in the finals a year after losing a heart breaker to the Temple Owls.
Richmond has a knack for putting the madness in March (just ask any Syracuse fan). They are the only school to win NCAA tournament games as a No. 12, 13, 14 and 15 seed. Looks like they have another shot to be the perennial 5/12 winner.