George Mason Cinderella Story!

These guys are GOOD! The George Mason Men’s basketball team defied all of the odds and wrecked countless betting brackets by knocking off top seed University of Connecticut in the NCAA tournament yesterday 86 to 84 in Overtime.

I live in Fairfax County, and the whole region has become Mason Patriots, and all of the pubs are full of fans, both new and old, crowded around the HDTV plasmas and rooting for this group of players who weren’t supposed to make it out of the second round of the tournament.

Local talk shows on the radio are saying that GMU’s advance to the final four is the equivalent of the greatest Cinderella stories in sports EVER. They said it is bigger than Seabiscuit.

From the San Jose Mercury News here:

Don’t be fooled.

Don’t look at George Mason University in the Final Four and get duped into seeing Cinderella.

Don’t look at the roster of no-name kids who couldn’t get scholarships to any major program and see 14 pairs of glass slippers.

George Mason is not Cinderella.

Cinderella would not – make that could not – have done what the Patriots just did.

Cinderella might always show up in the NCAA Tournament, but she does not go to the Final Four. That exclusive arena is reserved for truly elite teams.

“So what you’re saying now is we’re no longer a Cinderella now, we’re an elite team?” George Mason coach Jim Larranaga joyfully said after his 11th-seeded Patriots stunned top-seeded Connecticut in overtime, 86-84, to win the Washington Regional on Sunday at the Verizon Center.

Of course, George Mason looks like Cinderella. The Patriots join Louisiana State (1986) as only the second double-digit seed to reach the Final Four.

How could an 11th-seeded team from the Colonial Athletic Association going to the Final Four not look like a poor girl turned into a princess at the whim of a fairy godmother?

Considering who and when, this is arguably the most shocking upset in NCAA Tournament history. Princeton, seeded 13th, stunned reigning national champion UCLA in 1996, but that was in the opening round.

However, the fact that George Mason’s achievement appears to be some kind of miracle is the best explanation for why it is not. Miracles are one-time events.

In the last two weeks, George Mason, a program that had been 0-3 in the NCAA Tournament, has taken out a No. 6 seed (Michigan State), a No. 3 (North Carolina) and now a No. 1 in UConn.

Those programs have combined for eight NCAA championships.

Telling no-name players on a no-name team from a no-name conference that they can play with storied programs like Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut is one thing. Defeating them is an entirely different story. You might beat one; if you’re really lucky, maybe two, but there’s not enough magic in a wand to account for beating all three plus a good Wichita State squad on the way to the Final Four.

That’s not a result of magic.

That’s a result of the things that only championship-caliber teams show – guts, talent, poise and determination.

Cinderella doesn’t reach the Final Four, only great teams do.

This team can go all the way, based on looking at their performance in this tournament. And if they do, Fairfax County will never be the same. Go Patriots!