NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

1. Thank God We Don't Need a Shirt Solidarity Day. It is no secret that last fall Notre Dame football was pretty dismal. After an 0-3 start, I received the following email from Student Government:

We all know that this year's football season has not begun as we would have liked. Rough losses at home and on the road have left the nation wondering what has happened to Notre Dame football. The national media has portrayed our season as over and our team as the worst team in the NCAA. It is time for this negativity to end.



This is our team. Those are our friends, our classmates, and our roommates. It is time that we rally around our team and show them that we support them through thick and thin. This Thursday, September 20th, we encourage everyone to wear The Shirt as a sign of solidarity and support for the football team. As it says on the front, we can come "together as one," and battle the adversity of an 0-3 start. The season is still young and by no means over. Let's put the first three games behind us, and prepare for this weekend.

At least basketball is doing well enough so as not to necessitate one of these "morale boosters."

2. George Clooney Loves ND Basketball! He's nominated for an Oscar, yet he still finds time to watch Notre Dame and tell Regis that they were up at the half. Clearly God and George Clooney are on our side and I'm not sure which one I like better. (Kidding. It's totally Clooney).

3. Rooting for Notre Dame is Rooting Against ESPN. By now we are all familiar with Dana Jacobson's "f*ck Notre Dame...and touchdown Jesus...and regular Jesus" rant. It took place at the Mike & Mike roast, which also featured such "distinguished" "talents" as Trey Wingo, Mark Schlereth, Charlie Weis, Dick Vitale and Frank Caliendo. Since Weis is only associated with the football program (and eating), rooting for ND basketball is ostensibly rooting against the WWL Overlords. Go Irish! — Andrea Reiher

GEORGE MASON PATRIOTS

1. They've Been There. All right, so "experience" is incredibly overrated; after all, the Mason team that made the Final Four run had none of it whatsoever. But having been there is better than not having been there, right? Still on this team from the '06 run is point guard Folarin Campbell (no relation to Jason), and much more important, forward Will Thomas, who is - in my humble opinion - the best player in the conference. If you'll recall, Thomas was the guy who outplayed some kid from UConn named Rudy Gay in the regional final.

2. F— It, I'm Expecting Them to Win. When I wrote these here tidbits about Mason for Deadspin two years ago, I absolutely didn't expect Mason to win their first round game. They were playing Michigan State — who had the likes of Shannon Brown, Maurice Ager and Paul Davis - without their point guard Tony Skinn, who was suspended for punching a player in the man-bits during the CAA tourney. This year, they won the CAA tourney without uppercutting anyone in the balls, they're healthy, on fire, and —- as previously mentioned - experienced. This isn't some bull 15 seed. This is a team that can play with anyone (except UNC. They're good). Especially if that someone is a Big Ten team. Or Notre Dame.

3. Santa Claus Is Some Bull. My favorite Patriot is easily guard Andre Leaward LaVaé Smith, based solely on his name. A 26-year-old undergrad buddy of mine and Dre were in the same NCLC 375 class last semester. NCLC 375 is better known as Hip-Hop Literacies. The topic of discussion one day was "urban myths." Some genius in the class offered up "Christmas" as a myth. The teacher responded with something to the affect of, "Well, Christmas itself isn't a myth, it's real, but I suppose Santa Claus would be considered an urban myth." An eager-to-impress student disagrees: "Well, actually St. Nicholas was a real person who dropped treats down people's chimneys in the Old Country," Dre, for the first time all semester, raises his hand: "Not in my hood!"

The point here is that Andre Leaward LaVaé Smith ain't lookin' for no hand-outs, because in his hood, shit doesn't come free. You have to earn your treats. — Chris Mottram

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2. F— It, I'm Expecting Them to Win. When I wrote these here tidbits about Mason for Deadspin two years ago, I absolutely didn't expect Mason to win their first round game. They were playing Michigan State — who had the likes of Shannon Brown, Maurice Ager and Paul Davis - without their point guard Tony Skinn, who was suspended for punching a player in the man-bits during the CAA tourney. This year, they won the CAA tourney without uppercutting anyone in the balls, they're healthy, on fire, and —- as previously mentioned - experienced. This isn't some bull 15 seed. This is a team that can play with anyone (except UNC. They're good). Especially if that someone is a Big Ten team. Or Notre Dame.

3. Santa Claus Is Some Bull. My favorite Patriot is easily guard Andre Leaward LaVaé Smith, based solely on his name. A 26-year-old undergrad buddy of mine and Dre were in the same NCLC 375 class last semester. NCLC 375 is better known as Hip-Hop Literacies. The topic of discussion one day was "urban myths." Some genius in the class offered up "Christmas" as a myth. The teacher responded with something to the affect of, "Well, Christmas itself isn't a myth, it's real, but I suppose Santa Claus would be considered an urban myth." An eager-to-impress student disagrees: "Well, actually St. Nicholas was a real person who dropped treats down people's chimneys in the Old Country," Dre, for the first time all semester, raises his hand: "Not in my hood!"

The point here is that Andre Leaward LaVaé Smith ain't lookin' for no hand-outs, because in his hood, shit doesn't come free. You have to earn your treats. — Chris Mottram

As DC Sports Bog discovered, George Mason's dubious Final Four T-shirts have a picture of the Superdome on them. The Final Four is in San Antonio this year. Explained a seller:

Because it has the Final Four logo on it the design had to be approved by the NCAA and they didn't even catch the mistake. Bad news is that there isn't enough time to negotiate the rights to use the Alamodome on the shirt. A redesigned shirt will have half a basketball in place of the dome to resemble a dome. It doesn't look bad and will get posted tonight sometime. The good news is that the shirts with the wrong dome are already made and on their way here so the vendor is giving us a discount for the mistake which we will pass on to customers.

The funny part about this is that they don't consider anything even slightly strange about a T-shirt that draws the path to the Final Four for George Mason; that's actually the least ludicrous part of the T-shirt. Quite a feat.

Mason On The Road To New Orleans [DC Sports Bog]

Suffice it to say, William & Mary is not inherently known for its athletics. (Though their football program boasts Mike Timlin, Steve Christie and Marv Levy.) They've never made the tournament before, and this is the first season they'll finish above .500 this decade. (And that only barely, at 17-15.) Like our Illini, they've had some trouble with their mascot; they changed it from "the Indians" to "the Tribe," which, uh, is better, we guess.

The school itself is the real reason we're excited about a possible NCAA tourney berth. It was founded in 1693; Thomas Jefferson and George Washington went there. That's a bit more impressive than Karl Rove. The school's current chancellor is Sandra Day O'Connor, which is even more impressive when you consider the last two chancellors were Henry Kissinger and Margaret Thatcher.

And it's possible you might be able to fill out their name in your tournament bracket. Sorry George Mason: Tough to root against that.

Ho. Lee. Shit. [Gheorghe: The Blog]

One real problem with Gunston; Gunston did absolutely nothing to inspire fans. Said Associate Athletic Director for Marketing Andy Ruge to the Washington Post: "We need to develop a mascot with a strong image. It would be nice if a freshman could see him and go, 'Hey, that's our mascot' instead of going 'What's that?' " Ruge stressed that Gunston wasn't being "offed," but just reassigned "to children's functions." Ah, good ol' nightmare fuel.

By the way, this isn't Gunston (it's the Cavaliers' mascot Moondog), but we found it in the same Realests post and it's the funniest thing we've seen all day.

Main Mascot, Gunston, Looks Like A Goner [Washington Post]
Gunston: George Mason's Bastard Child [The Realests]

Lewis is attempting to make it as a tight end though, uh, he hasn't played organized football since high school. Not that it's necessarily stopping Jeremy Bloom, the pin-up boy skiier who was drafted by the Eagles. We are continually amazed by the overthinking that goes on in NFL offices sometimes. (Chuck Klosterman touched on this in his "The Texans are idiots for not drafting Reggie Bush" piece from over the weekend.) Teams are so obsessed with tools and size and speed and what-not, that the act of having actually played football is somehow of less importance. And you know what's weird? More often than not, they're right.

Lewis Signed By Giants [Washington Post]

But this has been as exciting a tournament as we can remember, pretty much every round, every day, every timeslot, every game. But both GMU-Florida and LSU-UCLA were bland, depressing blowouts, difficult to watch after halftime. That we would have come so far for so little seemed wrong, incongruous, some sort of cosmic cheat. That the ratings — insert usual "Neilsen ratings are pointless and outdated" disclaimer here — for the Patriots-Gators game were down eight percent from last year's Illinois-Louisville game somehow dented the story more; maybe people weren't as caught up in this as we thought.

But at least we had a Sunday evening baseball game. Baseball! That will cheer us! Oh. A three-hour rain delay. Nevermind. At least we'll catch the score on SportsCenter in the morning. What? Is that Stuart Scott doing another poetry slam? Aw ...

It's a difficult morning to be in love with sports. We'll do our best to snap out of it by lunchtime.

Cinderella Mauled By Gator [Deadspin]

Hey, double technicals. Green of Florida and Skinn of George Mason. I really hate to see double technical fouls called without someone getting punched. It just seems pointless.

Big steal by Taurean Green. 2:30 to play, the lead is 14. Hey, thanks George Mason. At the very least, you captivated a nation, knocked off UConn and bad rapper Ed Nelson, told Billy Packer to blow it out his ass, and gave us all a team with character and balls to support. Be proud.

Sidney Green and Yannick Noah are going to get as much airtime on Monday night as they did from their own careers.

So Florida's in... and I think they're going to be really hard for anyone to beat. I'll be back in a bit for the second game. It tips at 8:51.

The good news is that if any team can handle this, it's George Mason. They were down against UNC, they were down against UConn, and they handled it. Handle it again, fellas.

Just as Billy Packer says a 3-ball woudl be valuable to Mason, Tony Skinn steps up and hits one. The Patriots are clinging.

And Florida answers with a 3. Ugh.

Just as Jim Nantz warns that George Mason could come out and light things up, Florida hits two straight three balls to push the lead to 11.

Make that lead 15 at the 15:00 timeout. Mason has yet to score here in the second half, and they're now facing their biggest deficit of the tournament.

And now Mason's taking bad shots. Not like them. The lead is 17. Uh oh.

Mason's got a chance to take the lead here, on an 18-9 stretch. They don't do it, but it's very difficult to picture them ever being out of striking distance in this one.

If you looked just at uniforms, you'd easily be able to tell which team was in the big conference, and which team was in the smaller conference. Mason's uniforms are pretty ugly.

Craig Littlepage catches a George Mason player who goes barrelling into the press table. Someone should get a picture, frame it, have Littlepage autograph it and send it to Billy Packer.

Florida hits a three, and then Mason turns it right back over on the inbounds pass. Not to go all Doug Collins on you, but closing out the half is so important.

They escape without further damage, and Florida takes a 5-point lead into the half. We should have a hell of a 2nd half here.

Campbell hits a wild, out-of-control lay-up over Joakim Noah. God appears to be rooting for the Patriots. But Brewer answers with a quick three for Florida, so maybe God's not watching.

Prediction: If Florida wins and moves on, you are going to be so damn sick of seeing Taurean Green's father Sidney that you'll consider having him killed.

George Mason's doing a pretty nice job getting the Gators to take jumpshots. Florida isn't really helping themselves with their shot selection, though.

George Mason can't hit a shot right now. They're cold outside, and finding Noah difficult to deal with inside.

I think the idea of posting at every TV timeout may have been overkill. We're going to downshift a little bit here.

We may have a new batch of commercials here. I've seen most of these before, but for the most part, they're not the ones that have been pounded into my skull. No three-hour tewerrrrrs yet.

And we've got a 7-0 George Mason run. The lead is now just 3.

Joakim Noah block's Mason's first shot. That's not a good omen. Butler than has to rush and take a bad shot at the end of the shot block... and of course, he drills it. Not a good omen for Florida. Both teams may lose.

Florida runs off 5 straight. Their big men are doing it up.

Jai Lewis is so smooth. What incredible touch for a big man.

6 offensive rebounds for Florida already? That's a litle frightening.

13-6 Gators, and they're at the line for one more. Still feeling each other out a little bit, still trying to shake off the nerves.

And listen, I hope you're rooting for George Mason. If you're not, there are only a few good excuses for you.

1) You could win a life-changing sum of money in a pool if Florida wins this game. Not just some money. Not just enough to get you drunk. But a lot of money.
2) You attend Florida University, are related to someone on the team, are having sex with someone on the team, or are Billy Donovan's maid.
3) The movie "Hoosiers" somehow ruined your life, and you now hate all underdogs.
4) You can't get over the fact that George Mason himself was actually a slaveowner.
5) You're the guy that George Mason guard Tony Skinn punched in the balls.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=2355822
6) You enjoy murdering puppies.

There may be some others, but I can't think of them. Otherwise, I think you have to root for George Mason. Or your soul is an empty, rotten, thing.

Here comes basketball.

Anyway, there are apparently other teams in the Final Four this year, though we didn't notice. Nice thing is: It's impossible to overhype George Mason; no such thing as George Mason fatigue.

But will they win? Here's a look at some predictions for college basketball's final weekend.

• Dick Vitale: Florida over LSU
• Jay Bilas: LSU over Florida
• Andy Katz: Florida over LSU
• Daily Quickie: Florida over LSU
• Seth Davis: Florida vs. LSU (no prediction, wuss)
• yoco: college basketball: UCLA over George Mason
• Deadspin: George Mason over UCLA. What's WRONG with these people? Have they not seen George Mason play in this tournament? Have they forgotten? This is the best team we've seen over the last two weeks (followed closely by, well, Florida, actually). Let's take this all the way.

Your picks are encouraged in the comments, because that's what we're doing here today.

The interview appears to be a couple of years old, and it features Packer in his typical frothing-out-the-mouth lunatic form. Highlights include:

• Packer claiming (sarcastically, we hope) that he and his wife sing Christina Aguilera songs to each other before they go to sleep.
• He says, straight up, "there's no reason to get a college diploma. It doesn't matter."
• He taunts George Mason graduates as "those with a 400 SAT."

This is the guy who is going to broadcast the biggest moment in Mid-Major history this Saturday, a guy who openly mocked GMU's entry into the tournament. And he's cheerily mocking George Mason for being a school for idiots. Man. Saturday's gonna be great.

You can hear the whole interview right here. The sound quality is a little rough, but you can get the gist.

Billy Packer Interview [WJFK]
Junkies Radio [WJFK]

He was there for the big win over Connecticut, nearby when national reporters make their first visit to campus and even has been enjoying some provost-sponsored days off from school.

When we were at the University of Illinois in the mid-90s, the football team was coached by Lou Tepper and the basketball team was hitting the NIT every year, despite the expectation of at least a little success. But to be a student at George Mason and a sports blogger at the time of the most unexpected, glorious run in recent NCAA tourney history? That's just sublime. Jerk.

Saved By The Blog [AOL Sports]

Until George Mason, anyway. Which is why the Patriots probably aren't too offended that Nike's Niketown Web site is selling merchandise for every Final Four team ... except theirs. Don't worry, guys; the actual George Mason wouldn't have liked sweatshops either.

Niketown [Nike]

First off, a look at George Mason the university, an analysis of just what life at a commuter school is like and why George Mason is not just a harbinger of changing times on the court, but off. Plus, it's NPR writing something positive about a school that produced Karl Rove, which is always amusing.

But that's not the best part. Turns out that George Mason's president is pulling a Spike Lee and encouraging professors to give students a pass if they happened to miss class Monday. "As you know, lots of our undergraduates had an exciting time yesterday in response to the basketball victory," said provost Peter Stearns. "Without in any way wishing to distort our priorities, I write to urge a bit of leniency in response to any absences from undergraduate classes today. Thanks for your understanding."

Stearns has gotta be having one hell of a week. Talk about stumbling across a goldmine.

George Mason Students Given Leniency On Attendance [DCist]
A Win For George Mason And Commuter Schools, Too [NPR]

From the guy who brought you that gruesome video of Iowa fans reacting to Northwestern State's victory over them in the first round comes an even better video: Footage from the George Mason student section as the final seconds ticked off the clock yesterday.

If you can forgive the Bon Jovi background music, it's an excellent look at NCAA history being made, from the perspective of the die-hard student section. Plus, hey, drunk college students? Always funny.

Great To Be A Patriot [Extra Points]

The nice thing about George Mason is that it's impossible to overhype them; we will never get sick of George Mason, because we still know nothing about them. Everything is novel, everything is unexpected, everything is exactly what we love about sports. And that they've pulled this off without getting cute is even better; no last-second jumpers, no friendly referees, no lousy games by their opponents. They've just lined up, man-to-man, and kicked ass. Four times now.

Sure, it destroyed everyone's brackets — except for these two weirdos — but this is what we wanted. Aren't you about three times more likely to watch that game that you would have if it's Connecticut vs. Florida?

George Mason Fever. We have caught it. How can you not?

Front Row At The George Mason-UConn Classic [Mr. Irrelevant]

(By the way, that's a picture of a fan taken at the Verizon Center yesterday, saying he was wearing his "Gilly Suit," whatever that means.)

(UPDATE: We're told a Gilly Suit is "sniper camoflage." Perfect for the Verizon Center, we suppose.)

The 11th-seeded Patriots did the impossible, shook up the world, and believed in miracles. They just took down 1-seed UConn en route to becoming the 2nd 11-seed to ever make it to the Final Four. This is what the NCAA tournament is all about. This is what college basketball is all about.

Jai Lewis bricked two free throws at the end of overtime, but got away with it, because UConn ran out of miracles, just missing a three-ball at the buzzer. Just incredible. Cinderella is alive, she is dancing, and she's looking forward to pleasuring you in Indianapolis.

(By the way, comments aren't working, as you may have noticed. All apologies. We're working on it. At least, someone's working on it. It know it's had to be frustrating for you to watch this game and not be able to chime in with a "Fuck UConn" here and there. I sympathize... and I miss you.)

Folarin Campbell, Will Thomas, and Jai Lewis are all in double figures for Mason, and Lamar Butler has 8 points, unfortunately accompanied by three fouls. Josh Boone also has three fouls for UConn.

52-51 Mason. I'm giddy. Let's do it, Patriots.

Jai Lewis is leading the Patriots with 10 points, and Jeff Adrien has the same total for UConn. UConn is 5-of-9 from beyond the arc and they're shooting 55% from the floor. It's also worth noting that Jim Calhoun has kept his whining to a minimum, a stark contrast to Friday night, when he cried like... well, kinda like Adam Morrison.

It's still do-able, Mason. Hang in there, fellas.

And thus ends the run of Shocker jokes. Just in time, probably. Once the cheerleader demonstrated her technique, there was nowhere to go but down. But congratulations and condolences to a very good Wichita State team.

And it's not like George Mason doesn't have their own charms. As noted at Saved by the Blog, their coach, to fire them up before the UNC game, played Kryptonite by the Purple Ribbon All-Stars, after he told the team that the Tarheels were Supermen, and that the Patriots were Kryptonite. A Mason fan took the time to mix the speech into the song.

Mason Is Kryptonite! [Saved by the Blog]

WICHITA STATE

1. Desperately Seeking ... Someone. Before the 2000-2001 season, WSU was hard up for a coach. The '90s had not been kind to the Shockers, and Randy Smithson — whose father Gene coached the Shockers back in the day — was ... well, not Division-I material, though his first two years were above .500. His next two were most definitely not, so WSU turned to coaching factory Jacksonville State (?) to pluck away their leader, Mark Turgeon, a Topeka, Kan., native and Kansas product. He was 25-29 in his two head coaching years there. The A.D. must have seen something. His first two years were 9-19 and 15-15 before three straight NIT bids. The A.D. was right.
Now let's hope he stays and doesn't get cherry-picked by a bigger program.

2. Houston, We Have A Chance! Shocker players like their tunes chopped and screwed. Six of this year's players are from Texas — four from Houston proper, one each from Belton and Plano (formerly the heroin capital of the U.S.). The Houstonites are also well spread out - one freshman, one (redshirt) sophomore, one junior transfer, one senior.

3. That Damn Commercial Applies Here. No, not the Applebee's one. But the Shockers have a history of going pro in everything but basketball, save a few USBL and ABA ballers (Jamar Howard with the ABA's San Jose Skyrockets, for one). Before Miller, the Shockers' big man was Troy Mack, now a social worker in Wichita. Jason Perez, a point guard in the 90s (also from Texas originally, San Antonio), was a pro baller with the Kansas Cagerz. Now I think he sells insurance? Cameron Ledford, a little-played senior this year, is headed to medical school. The only current Shocker who didn't transfer (I'm looking at you, Mo Evans) involved in the NBA is Rob Kampman, scouting for the San Antonio Spurs. We're a long way from Antoine Carr and Xavier McDaniel ... or are we? — Matt McNabb

GEORGE MASON

1. The NFL Is A Big Mystery to Them, Apparently. Members of the team were asked recently to name their favorite NFL team, and inexplicably, almost to a man, the answer came up: San Francisco 49ers. Well, sure, we ... what? A quick check of the Niners' roster shows no George Mason products, so we're stumped.

2. So Liberal, Yet So Conservative. George Mason is ranked by the Princeton Review as the most diverse college in the nation, with 135 countries represented on campus — including the United Arab Emirates. Tempering the excitement of that distinction, however, is the fact that economics professor Walter Williams, a syndicated columnist, is an occasional guest host of the Rush Limbaugh radio show.

3. They Don't Generally Start Trash Talking Until The Second Win. Of course we know that CBS' Billy Packer criticized the NCAA Selection Committee for allowing George Mason into the tournament. After their opening-round NCAA win over Michigan State, coach Jim Larranaga was diplomatic, saying he could unjderstand why Packer would question their inclusion. But after beating North Carolina, Larranaga grew claws. "Ask them (Packer and Jim Nantz) how many times they saw George Mason play this year," Larranaga said. "Definitely not in person. Probably didn't even watch any video on us, so they had no idea going into Selection Sunday what George Mason is all about." — Rick Chandler

Wichita State Shockers: First Three Tiny Tidbits [Deadspin]
George Mason Patriots: First Three Tiny Tidbits [Deadspin]

GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY
Location: Fairfax, Virginia.
Named For: George Mason (1725-1792).
What He Did: One of the founding fathers, known as the "Father of the Bill of Rights."
Not To be Confused With: George Mason, the character on the TV series 24, played by Xander Berkeley.
Why He Rocks: Although from a Virginia plantation family, was adamantly anti-slavery.

BRADLEY UNIVERSITY
Location: Peoria, Illinois.
Named For: Lydia Moss Bradley (1816-1908).
What She Did: American philanthropist, noted for founding and endowing the Bradley Polytechnic Institute, now called Bradley University. Established the first park system in Illinois.
Not To Be Confused With: Politician and former New York Knick Bill Bradley, whom she somewhat resembles.
Why She Rocks: First American woman to draft a prenuptial agreement to protect her assets.

Three Tidbits On Bradley [Deadspin]
Three Tidbits On George Mason [Deadspin]

MICHIGAN STATE

1. They ve Got The Family On Their Side. Michigan State has its fair share of notable alumni, but perhaps none has the cool quotient of James Caan. (Not even Bubba Smith — and he played Moses Hightower.) And yes, we re basing that simply on the theory that anyone involved in The Godfather has a cool quotient that is off the charts. Sure, Caan eventually transferred to Hofstra after spending a couple years in East Lansing studying economics and walking onto the football team, but a little detail like that isn t going to stop the Spartans from claiming the man who played Sonny Coreleone as one of their own. Besides, if anyone can relate to what it feels like to be mercilessly ambushed and gunned down, it s a Spartan football fan.

2. Hannibal In The House. Yes, that's Matt Trannon peering out from behind that freakish mask. Trannon, who suffered a broken jaw in the waning minutes of MSU's home win over Michigan, looked imposing long before he ever donned the plastic face-guard, which appears to be inspired in equal part by Jason Voorhees, Bill Laimbeer and Hannibal Lector. With it, he s absolutely terrifying — much to the pleasure of the Izzone, which has dubbed the popular two-sport star "Trannibal Lector." We re not sure we buy the comparison. Trannon can be a monster on the glass, but Hannibal had a way better jumper.

3. They ve Got Mo Beats. Not only is senior guard Maurice Ager a second-team All-Big Ten performer and MSU's leading scorer, sporting a 19 PPG average, he s also pretty handy in a recording studio, with a passion for dropping beats known, rather creatively, as Mo Ager Beats. Unfortunately, Ager s Soundclick Artist page is no longer active, but never fear; not only can Mo throw down beats of his own, he s branched out into production for other artists. Mo Ager—MSU s very own Master P. — Rob Visconti

GEORGE MASON

1. Exercising David s Demons. Mason cracked the Top 25 on February 20 for the first time in school history after winning at Wichita State. It marked the first time a CAA team has been ranked since a 1987 David Robinson-led Navy team was No. 18 in the polls, and a Beastie Boys-led "Licence to Ill" album was No. 1 in the charts. Mason s NCAA Tourney birth is also the CAA s first at-large bid since, well, 1987.

2. Jai Lives. Several NFL teams have sent scouts to watch Mason forward Jai Lewis in action with the hopes of finding the next Antonio Gates. Lewis is Mason s best player and at 6'7", 275 lbs, he is three inches taller and 15 pounds heavier than Gates (I have a class with him; he barely fits in the desks). Lewis also has "great hands and athleticism" and possesses Mel Kiper s most important non-descript NFL draft day asset: terrific upside.

3. The Squirrel Master. GMU s top guard Tony Skinn has adopted this nickname because of his uncontrollable attraction to nuts. In Mason s semi-final CAA Tourney game against Hofstra, Skinn punched Hofstra s Loren Stokes right in the babymakers. As a result, Skinn will serve a one-game suspension, miss the Patriots first round game and give Mason fans their own (metaphorical) punch in the balls. — Chris Mottram

Deadspin Printable Bracket (PDF) (JPG version)
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NCAA Tournament First Round Schedule [Deadspin]
Complete Deadspin First Round Matchup Previews [Deadspin]

2. Jai Lives. Several NFL teams have sent scouts to watch Mason forward Jai Lewis in action with the hopes of finding the next Antonio Gates. Lewis is Mason s best player and at 6'7", 275 lbs, he is three inches taller and 15 pounds heavier than Gates (I have a class with him; he barely fits in the desks). Lewis also has "great hands and athleticism" and possesses Mel Kiper s most important non-descript NFL draft day asset: terrific upside.

3. The Squirrel Master. GMU s top guard Tony Skinn has adopted this nickname because of his uncontrollable attraction to nuts. In Mason s semi-final CAA Tourney game against Hofstra, Skinn punched Hofstra s Loren Stokes right in the babymakers. As a result, Skinn will serve a one-game suspension, miss the Patriots first round game and give Mason fans their own (metaphorical) punch in the balls. — Chris Mottram