Does anybody really know what a dance card is?
With the NCAA Tournament, or March Madness, in full swing, many refer to the next few weeks in college basketball as “the big dance.”
But when we make references to filling out our dance cards, does anybody alive today really know what that means?
I didn’t, so I looked it up.
Peaking in popularity in the 1800s, dance cards were decorative booklets carried by women to record the names of men she intended to dance with at formal balls. Their usage can be traced back to European private and public balls and eventually came into popularity in American balls and college dances.
Having fallen out of popularity in the aftermath of World War I, dance cards were subjected to the dustbin of history, left as collector’s items and as references in period pieces.
But maybe in college basketball, dance cards remain alive.
The VCU Rams earned yet another invite to “the big dance” following the Rams’ 70-62 win in the Atlantic 10 title game in Pittsburgh on Sunday. The win gave the Rams their third A-10 title in the last four years and sent VCU to the dance for the 13th time since VCU’s famous Final Four run in 2011.
The Rams learned their dancing partner at about 6:30 Sunday night. On the dance card? The North Carolina Tar Heels.
VCU and North Carolina have never danced together in the regular season or the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels’ first entry into VCU’s dance card will come at 6:50 on Thursday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.
HAVOC no more
VCU’s sustained success has come as the program has experienced massive turnover over the last few years.
First-year head coach Phil Martelli Jr. became the third VCU coach in the last four years to lead the Rams to the A-10 championship, following former coaches Mike Rhoades in 2023 and Ryan Odom in 2025.
Odom left VCU after two seasons on Broad Street last offseason to take the head coaching job at the University of Virginia. Odom’s departure led to VCU picking up Martelli, the son of legendary St. Joseph’s head coach Phil Martelli and the former Bryant head coach (who led Bryant to the dance in 2025).
Under Martelli, VCU scored 100 or more points four times in 2025-26. By comparison, Rhoades, Odom and Will Wade combined for one 100-point game in 10 total seasons at the helm for VCU.
For a program that built its brand around suffocating defense during the Shaka Smart years (and subsequent plucking from branches of Smart’s coaching tree), it has been high-powered offense that has helped carry VCU this season.
For the season, VCU averaged 81.6 points per game, with seven players averaging seven points or more.
That high-powered offense led the Rams to run through the A-10 slate, dropping just one game since Jan. 14. For much of the conference schedule, VCU saw point totals in the low to mid 80s, with a high-water mark of 99 against Dayton on Feb. 6.
While the Rams have remained one of the most consistent teams in the conference, Martelli has already put his stamp on the program. Look for offense to be the name of the game against North Carolina in the NCAA Tournament.
Taking home the hardware
VCU took home multiple all-Atlantic 10 awards on March 11.
Sophomore Terrence Hill Jr. was named A-10 Sixth Man of the Year and Chris Daniels Most Improved Player. Hill, one of five players who stayed following the coaching change last offseason, led the Rams with 14.4 points per game and 2.8 assists per game.
Hill’s scoring average improved from 3.4 points per game in his freshman season, when he averaged just six minutes per game. Under Martelli, Hill’s role grew into that of a true sixth man, averaging 24 minutes per game off the bench.
Freshman guard Nyk Lewis was named A-10 Rookie of the Year. Lewis started all 33 games he appeared in during his freshman campaign, averaging 8.7 points and 4.5 rebounds per game on 40% shooting. Lewis shot 36.8% from deep, connecting 46 times from beyond the arc.
The Washington, D.C. native was ranked 55th in his high school class by 247Sports and was originally committed to Xavier before they made a head coaching change last offseason.
As rookie of the year, Lewis was also named to the conference’s All-Rookie Team.
Hill was named to the All-A-10 First Team along with junior forward Lazar Djokovic. The Serbia native transferred to VCU from Charleston and made an immediate impact, averaging 13.5 points and a team-high 5.4 rebounds per game. He was also the leading shot-blocker for VCU, tallying 40 blocks during the campaign.
Sophomore guard Brandon Jennings, a Richmond native and holdover from the Odom era, was named to the A-10 All-Defensive Team. Jennings’ 57 steals led the Rams and ranked in the top five in the conference, while the guard added 28 blocks to the tally.
In addition to his defensive prowess, Jennings connected on 43.4% of his 3-point attempts this season, and tied with Lewis at 8.7 points per game.
VCU-North Carolina: Notes and picks
VCU drew an #11 seed in the south region of the NCAA Tournament – and according to NCAA Selection Committee Chair and Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Keith Gill, would’ve been on the outside of the big dance with a loss on Sunday.
North Carolina, the #21 ranked team in the AP Poll going into the tournament, drew a #6 seed. The Tar Heels went 24-8 during the season, with a highlight home win against #1 Duke on Feb. 7, but enter the NCAA Tournament on a slide following an 80-79 loss to Clemson in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
Notably, the Tar Heels will be without star freshman and First Team All-ACC selection Caleb Wilson, who is out for the season with a right thumb fracture. Wilson is UNC’s leading scorer, averaging nearly 20 points per game on 57.8% shooting.
Although the Tar Heels are wounded, they have plenty of firepower to make up for Wilson’s absence. Seven-foot center Henri Veesaar gives the Tar Heels a paint size advantage that VCU lacks, especially with the Rams being shallow at the center and forward positions relative to guard play.
Veesaar can also stretch the floor, knocking down 37 3-pointers during the season on a 42% clip.
Senior guard Seth Trimble is expected to take some of the scoring load that Wilson leaves behind. The Wisconsin native, a rare four-year senior, averages 14 points per game on 47.2% from the floor.
The teams are on vastly different trajectories entering the game as well. Hubert Davis’ Tar Heels are on a two-game slide dating back to a loss to Duke to end the regular season, while VCU comes in as winners of 16 of its last 17 games.
History is not on VCU’s side in this matchup. North Carolina has made the tournament 55 times, and Davis has coached the Tar Heels to four NCAA Tournament appearances since replacing the legendary Roy Williams in Chapel Hill following Williams’ retirement in 2021. North Carolina is often cited as one of the inner circle “blue blood” programs in college basketball, with more national titles (six) than VCU has second weekend appearances (one).
But Michael Jordan isn’t coming through the door. James Worthy? He’s not either. Vince Carter? Tyler Hansbrough? Marcus Paige? R.J. Davis? All not coming onto the court at Furman University on Thursday.
With VCU surging and North Carolina fading and down a blue-chip talent entering the game, the oddsmakers have North Carolina as a slight 2.5-point favorite – nearly a pick ‘em.
Can VCU defeat a blue blood program to earn its first NCAA Tournament win since 2016? The way things are aligning, it appears to be the Rams’ best chance on paper in a long time.
The key will be to slow down Veesaar as much as possible and exploit VCU’s guard depth. The Tar Heels are loaded with talent, including leading assist man (and Virginia native) Derek Dixon, but the Rams have guard talent to match.
All told, this has the makings to be a dance to remember.
Jason’s pick: VCU 83, North Carolina 79.
VCU (27-7, 15-3 A-10) and North Carolina (24-8, 12-6 ACC) will tip-off at around 6:50 p.m. on March 19. TNT will have the coverage, and the CBS/Turner Sports A-Team of Ian Eagle, La Salle alumnus Bill Raftery and Grant Hill will have the television call.