‘Sorry, George Mason’ Isn’t the Only Refrain

Because television analysts Jim Nantz and Billy Packer spouted off during the selection program about the undeserving co-champions of leagues such as the Colonial Athletic Assn. stealing bids from the outstretched hands of poor, underdog eighth-place teams from the Big East or Big Ten conference, this NCAA tournament has become a referendum about the attributes of mid-majors, and George Mason has become a symbol for all that is good about this sporting event.

We’ve heard about the hardly known (from near the nation’s capital, not exactly a small media market) little team (school enrollment: 29,000; home court: a 10,000-seat on-campus arena) that came out of nowhere (with three senior starters led by a 56-year-old coach with 35 years in the business) to accomplish the impossible.

A nice, sweet story.

Yet it could be argued that UCLA fits into Cinderella’s shoes much more easily than the George Mason Patriots, from Fairfax, Va.

The Bruins lost a player -- Josh Shipp -- who was reportedly eating up NBA talent in summer scrimmages and was by far the best of UCLA’s returning underclassmen until a hip injury caused him to miss all but four games this season. They didn’t have a roster full of high school All-Americans and they played that deliberate defensive basketball emblematic of underdogs who think they can’t hang.

So it makes no sense to handicap a Final Four when UCLA and its 11 national titles is as much an underdog as George Mason, which won its first NCAA tournament game two weeks ago.

If there is a lesson to be taken from the 2006 tournament, it is that keeping one’s mouth in check on Selection Sunday means never having to say, “Sorry, George Mason. We didn’t mean your name had no business being mentioned in the same sentence as Michigan State or North Carolina or Connecticut. We really meant to say you’d beat them all.�

And we have learned that it makes no sense to try to make sense of the tournament and its fallout.

For example, when Northwestern State’s Jermaine Wallace, his body stretched at all the wrong angles, sank a three-pointer from the corner at the buzzer to upset Big Ten Conference tournament champion Iowa, he changed the perception of Hawkeye Coach Steve Alford everywhere.

After weeks of speculation that Alford, a former star player at Indiana, would be the next Hoosier coach, the first-round flameout seemed to give Indiana Athletic Director Rick Greenspan the out he needed. Greenspan never even contacted Alford about the job.

Last we heard, Alford had applied for the Missouri job that went to Alabama Birmingham’s Mike Anderson, leaving Iowa fans to grumble about being left with damaged goods.

All thanks to Wallace.

Yet, while Alford was getting crossed off the Indiana coaching list, Kelvin Sampson went straight to the top of Greenspan’s list even though the Sooners were also upset in the first round -- by Wisconsin Milwaukee -- and even though Sampson’s Oklahoma program is under an NCAA investigation into phone calls made to recruits.

It is entirely possible Sampson could arrive in Bloomington bringing NCAA sanctions with him.

Make sense of that.

Or this:

Time was almost gone, Villanova trailed by a point, and Boston College was blanketing every one of the Wildcat guards. Until Will Sheridan strolled to the basket, took an inbounds pass, and put in a game-winning layup.

Or did he? Boston College’s Sean Williams was called for goaltending -- correctly. But in that situation, with no more time at the end of overtime, how often is that call made?

One day later it wasn’t. Washington’s Brandon Roy had a gimme layup, which was swatted away on its downward arc by Connecticut’s Hilton Armstrong. But there was no goaltending call.

And so the dysfunctional Connecticut Huskies went on to win -- only to be sent packing by George Mason in the next round.

If Roy’s basket had counted, would Washington have lost to George Mason?

Washington was motivated to prove itself whereas Connecticut players seemed motivated to go home and start exploring their collective NBA draft prospects.

Players Who Made

You Go ‘Wow’

* Alabama point guard Ronald Steele. So quick, so smart, he almost single-handedly knocked out Marquette and came close to doing the same to UCLA.

* Bradley center Patrick O’Bryant. Only a sophomore, he is 7 feet tall, with great hands, good footwork and an upside that has suddenly attracted NBA scouts.

* Wichita State guard Sean Ogirri. With a quick release and great moves across the lane, he would get a shot off before his defender realized he had the ball.

* Winthrop guard Torrell Martin. Fearless taking the ball inside against bigger Tennessee players, he came within a fingertip of blocking Chris Lofton’s game-winner in the final second. With the block, Winthrop would have become only the fifth 15th-seeded team to win a first-round game.

* Davidson center Ian Johnson. A 6-9 senior, he dominated Ohio State with 26 points and 10 rebounds. If you had heard of any Davidson player, it would have been Brendan Winters, whose father, Brian, played in the NBA. This is why it’s worth having DirecTV during the tournament. Johnson was fearless, aggressive and skilled inside. Who knew?

The ‘Wow’ Players

of Next Season

Arizona freshman Marcus Williams, not to be confused with Connecticut junior Marcus Williams, was almost unstoppable for the Wildcats in their loss to Villanova.

As the year went on, Williams went from being a reserve who didn’t have a left-handed shot to Arizona’s best player -- with the ability to go left or right equally well. He’s 6-7 and versatile.

With Williams and UCLA freshman Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, the Pacific 10 Conference has the kind of young talent that should make the league a national power again.

Remember, but for the goaltending that wasn’t, the Pac-10 might have two teams in the Final Four.

Make sense of that.