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CHICAGO  Oh yeah  VCU belongs in the NCAA tournament. The real question now: Who can stop the Rams?
Fresh, fast, furious and at times flawless, VCU didn't look a bit like a team playing its third game in five nights. The Rams pressured Purdue, broke through its defense for numerous layups, and overwhelmed the third-seeded Boilermakers of the Big Ten 94-76 Sunday night to earn their first trip to the round of 16.
As their fans chanted "VCU, VCU," players hugged and celebrated on the floor of the United Center. What a trip – what a week – it has been. Now it's on to San Antonio for the 11th-seeded Rams (26-11) to play the winner of Notre Dame-Florida State on Friday in the Southwest regional semifinals.

It was just a week ago the Rams received an at-large bid to the disbelief of some critics. Shuttled off to Dayton for a first-round game, they beat Southern Cal on Wednesday, got into Chicago in the wee hours Thursday, routed Georgetown on Friday and then did the same to the Boilermakers.

"A week ago, we thought we were done," said the relentless point guard Joey Rodriguez, who had 12 points, 11 assists and no turnovers in 34 minutes.

"And now, we're here in the Sweet 16. Anything can happen now."

Purdue coach Matt Painter, whose Boilermakers 26-8 were denied a third straight trip to the round of 16, agreed."If you watched VCU a certain time in the season you wouldn't see what you just watched out there," Painter said. "Then you watch them during a four- or five-game stretch and you literally think, `They can beat any team in the country. I made that statement   VCU can beat any team in the country on a neutral court. And I believe that. I was hoping that team wouldn't show up, but that team from VCU did show up.
Bradford Burgess scored 23 points to lead a balanced offense, and the Rams' depth wore the Boilermakers down in the second half when the lead reached 20 points.