George Mason, the man, forced a modification of the U.S. Constitution, which he insisted include a bill of rights.
It’s fitting, then, that George Mason, the university, might force a modification of the college basketball landscape.
By fighting its way into the Final Four, George Mason is drafting a new set of rules – standards that say any team, anywhere, can be worthy of contending for a national title. The Final Four, almost exclusively a big- school club, is having a mid-major breakdown thanks to the school in Fairfax, Va.
“I think what George Mason has done in this NCAA Tournament has been a milestone and breakthrough in college basketball,” Florida coach Billy Donovan said.
The Patriots, an 11th seed making the Final Four, are a product of years of other mid-majors trying to get it right. It started with first-round upsets and second-round blowouts. Then there were those programs that pushed through to the Sweet 16. Then, the Elite Eight. And now here are the Patriots, the first true underdog, mid-major Final Four participant.
“I hope everybody at our level realizes that they could be us,” George Mason coach Jim Larranaga said. “What we’ve been able to do is doable, maybe at a lot of schools.”
Though pundits are quick to say George Mason is the first mid-major to get to the Final Four since Indiana State in 1979, “mid-major” wasn’t a term or concept then. This team doesn’t have a Larry Bird, and was not an undefeated favorite, as the Sycamores were when they reached the championship game that year. It is a ragtag bunch of lightly recruited players who wanted to stay close to home. Its leading scorer, senior Jai Lewis, is an NFL football prospect.
And the tournament has come to them.
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, whose team lost to George Mason in the Elite Eight, described the tournament as “perilous.” For majors, that is exactly what it has become: a minefield on the way to the Final Four.
This may be the most competitive tournament on record.
The parity that now defines March Madness can be traced to the start of high school stars skipping school to go straight to the NBA. As the number of players going from prep ball to the pro game has risen – from Kevin Garnett in 1995 to the nine taken in last year’s NBA draft – so has the competitive level of the NCAA Tournament. And, consequently, so has the mid-majors’ ability to advance further.
In 1996, the average margin of victory in the NCAA Tournament was 13.6 points. There were no overtime games, 35 double-figure victories, and the average margin of the double-digit wins was 20.7 points. No mid-majors advanced to the Sweet 16.
This year, the average margin of victory in the tournament has been 9.5 points. There have been five overtime games and one double-overtime contest; 24 games have been won by double figures, and the average margin of those victories was 16.4 points. Three mid-majors – Bradley, Wichita State and George Mason – made it to the Sweet 16.
Their success has inspired others. Denver coach Terry Carroll hopes it shows it can be done anywhere. The Pioneers came within a few possessions of getting into the NCAA Tournament in 2005, losing in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament final.
“It should give our guys and a lot of mid-major guys the realization that if you do what you’re supposed to do and put yourself in that position and get in the tournament, anything can happen,” Carroll said.
But every year? Carroll and Larranaga agree on that subject. Carroll said a run like George Mason’s can probably take place “about every three or four or five years.”
Larranaga said, “I don’t think this is something that you say is a realistic goal for everybody every year.”
The return of the high school stars to NCAA basketball because of the NBA’s new age limit may have something to say about how well the little guys do in the future, too. When Ohio State gets prep national player of the year Greg Oden, the top prep recruit this year, the gap between it and weaker teams should grow.
Still, said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, these types of tournaments are here to stay.
“The more opportunities those teams seem to get, the more (wins) you’re going to see,” he said. “And it’s not an upset at all, it’s just that the opportunity was created.”
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
