Yankson shines, Rams run rampant at Fred Hardy Relay Invitational

round of 32 and Sweet 16 the last two years.

“We decided about a year ago we wanted to get better and go further in this tournament than we ever had,” Gaines said. “And here we are.”

Teams have the option of playing every opponent in person. But because of travel expenses, most matchups are determined on a 50-50 basis by two factors: the expected score at a neutral site based on projections derived from live play and fan voting using Twitter polls. VCU is ranked No. 14 nationally in the KPI (Key Performance Indicator) Manager Game Rankings.

The Black and Gold defeated

Charleston in the opening round before ousting Fordham in the round of 32 and James Madison in the Sweet 16, all in online competition.

Due to travel constraints, only five teams — Texas, Michigan, Missouri State, Wisconsin and VCU — made the trip to San Antonio for the Elite Eight, setting up a double-elimination format. VCU defeated Wisconsin 40-33 Friday in the quarterfinal round, earning a spot in the winner’s bracket semifinal. The Black and Gold defeated Texas early Friday evening in the semifinal. Texas then defeated Missouri State in the loser’s bracket, setting up a championship round in which the Longhorns had to beat the undefeated Rams twice.

The team started a GoFundMe to finance its trip to San Antonio for the conclusion of the tournament. Just five days in, VCU had raised $2,200, exceeding its initial goal of $2,000. Green said his team owes everything to its supportive fan base.

“The fans are the best. Without them, we wouldn’t be down here competing for a championship,” Green said. “They always ask how we do and cheer us on. We appreciate them so much.”