George Mason's Cinderella Story

Commuter School Never Won Single NCAA Tournament Game Until 2 Weeks Ago

(CBS/AP) 
But it's been quite awhile since there were this many surprises.

The last time no No. 1 made the tournament's showcase was also the last year neither the Big East nor the Atlantic Coast Conference had at least one Final Four team; those high-profile leagues combined to produce the past five national champions, including the ACC's North Carolina last year, and the Big East's Connecticut in 2004.

George Mason eliminated both of those schools, despite having relatively smaller players not thought of as NBA prospects.

"They don't measure heart by inches, they don't measure courage, they don't measure basketball instinct and intelligence," said Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, whose team has three or four players probably headed to the pros.

The Patriots, he added, "are not on a magic carpet ride because there's any myth there. They are good. They are really, really good."

Perhaps, but George Mason's basketball program is certainly unheralded: The team never has been ranked in The Associated Press poll, and it lost two of its last four games before the NCAA tournament.

Its players are unheralded. Asked this weekend who recruited him out of high school, forward Will Thomas joked: "George Mason, George Mason, George Mason. I'm glad I chose George Mason."

Its conference is unheralded, too. It had been 20 years since the Colonial Athletic Association received two invitations to the NCAA tournament, and some Connecticut players weren't able to name which league the Patriots play in.

All of the above are among the reasons that some, including CBS basketball analyst Billy Packer, questioned whether George Mason deserved to go to the tournament at all. The considerable Mason cheering section at Sunday's game — played about 20 miles from the school's Fairfax, Va., campus — broke into taunting chants of "Bill-y! Pack-er!" before and after the game, even though he wasn't announcing.

When Lamar Butler hit a 3-pointer to give George Mason only its second lead of the game, at 52-51 about halfway through the second half, Connecticut called a timeout. While Patriots coach Jim Larranaga stood with his arms crossed, smiling, Butler and a couple of teammates looked up at the scoreboard, mouths open.

Perhaps they were wondering, "Can this really be happening?"

It sure was.