NCAA Elite Eight Preview: VCU vs KANSAS

THE STORY: Playing in a Southwest regional that included three double-digit seeds, anything less than domination would be unacceptable for No. 1 seed Kansas. Consider the first test passed with flying colors. No. 11 seed Virginia Commonwealth has had to prove itself every step of the way this month, starting with a first-round game just to get into the field of 64. But four wins later, the Rams are further than they have ever been before and are still hungry. Kansas and VCU will battle it out for the right to go to Houston and the Final Four when the schools meet on Sunday in the regional final.

TV: 2:20 p.m. ET, CBS. ODDS: Kansas -11. Books opened with the Jayhawks at -10.5 and that was bet up to -11. The total has fallen from 147.5 to 145.5 points.

ABOUT KANSAS (35-2, 18-16-1): The Jayhawks will be playing in their fourth Elite Eight in eight seasons under coach Bill Self and are on the verge of making another trip to the Final Four - their first since winning the 2008 National Championship. Kansas let Boston University and Illinois hang around through the first half before turning in convincing wins in the first two games. But the Jayhawks did not mess around in the Sweet 16 against No. 12 seed Richmond. They ripped off a 27-4 burst in the first half that stretched the lead to as much as 35-11. The Jayhawks never led by less than 15 points the rest of the way in cruising through to the Southwest final. Brady Morningstar led with 18 points and Thomas Robinson collected 12 points and 14 rebounds off the bench in the 77-57 triumph. The game was over so fast that Marcus and Markieff Morris, who combined for 72 points and 41 rebounds in the first two games, only had to play 28 and 17 minutes, respectively. The Morris twins finished combined for 18 points and 13 boards.

ABOUT VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH (27-11, 17-20-0 ATS): The Rams took a lot of flack from analysts as a mid-major that got an at-large bid ahead of teams from large conferences like Colorado and Virginia Tech. No one is questioning them anymore, after taking out a fourth straight major-conference team en route to the Elite Eight. VCU had its toughest battle yet against No. 10 seed Florida State in the semifinal on Friday, but Branford Burgess hit a layup off an inbounds pass with 7.1 seconds left in overtime to lift it to a 72-71 victory. Burgess finished with 26 points and went 6 of 7 from 3-point range in the contest. The Rams had never made it past the second round in nine previous NCAA tournament appearances.

UP NEXT: The winner gets either Butler or Florida at the Final Four next Saturday in Houston.

TRENDS:

- Rams are 8-0 ATS in their last eight NCAA tournament games.
- Jayhawks are 4-1 ATS in their last five NCAA tournament games as favorites of 7.0-12.5.
- Under is 13-3 in Jayhawks' last 16 NCAA tournament games.
- Over is 7-3 in Rams' last 10 neutral-site games.