A year ago, George Mason was the darling of college basketball. By upsetting favorite UConn in the Elite Eight, the Patriots made one of the most improbable runs to the Final Four in years.
David had slayed Goliath. The little school from Virginia planned on using that tournament run as a springboard into this season battling larger, more established schools such as Maryland, Georgetown and George Washington for fans in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan area.
Things, suffice it to say, have not gone so smoothly.
With only two starters ““ Folarin Campbell and Will Thomas ““ returning for coach Jim Larranaga, the Patriots have struggled to compete in the Colonial Athletic Association, treading water at 14-13 and just 8-8 in conference.
Outside of an unlikely run in the CAA tournament, George Mason won’t be able to reprise its role of Cinderella this upcoming March.
These six other schools from mid-major conferences, however, will try to see if the glass slipper fits this March.
1. Nevada (24-2): All-American Nick Fazekas makes his final go-around with perhaps his best team yet. The Wolf Pack are ranked No. 11 and have been steamrolling a better-than-you-think WAC to the tune of an 11-1 conference record.
They have beaten the mid-major poster child Gonzaga on the road, and they pounded Northern Iowa over last Saturday in ESPN’s made-for-TV Bracket Buster event which pitted the nation’s best mid-major teams against one another.
2. Southern Illinois (23-5): The No. 13 Salukis outlasted Butler 68-64 in the showcase game of the Bracket Buster event. They aren’t just some team overranked by the media, but a legitimate Sweet Sixteen-caliber squad because they do what all good teams do: play lockdown defense.
SIU has lost coaches Bruce Weber to Illinois and Matt Painter to Purdue in the last four years. The program, however, has continued to thrive despite the coaching turnover and has consistently been one of the best teams outside the major conferences year after year.
3. Butler (25-4): Even though the Bulldogs fell to Southern Illinois, they are still ranked No. 15 in the nation and are still riding the momentum from their win in the NIT Preseason Tip-Off in November.
They’ve already proved they can beat the big boys by downing Tennessee, Purdue, Notre Dame and Indiana earlier in the year. A.J. Graves and Mike Green give Butler what every team needs to make a deep tourney run: a pair of sweet-shooting experienced guards.
4. Missouri State (19-9): Wisconsin might be the new No. 1 in the polls, but they still weren’t good enough back in November to take down the Bears. Missouri State pulled off the upset on a neutral floor in South Padre Island, Texas, a similar situation that many “name” teams will be in next month.
A deep (eight players average more than 16 minutes per game) and experienced (seven juniors or seniors in the rotation) squad will be extremely dangerous for any team in the NCAAs. That is, if the Bears can survive the tough Missouri Valley and secure a bid.
5. Old Dominion (21-7): At 13-3 in conference, the Monarchs actually sit a half game behind Virginia Commonwealth for the CAA lead. Still, the two schools have split the season series with each one winning at home. Both schools have swept George Mason.
Old Dominion does have what VCU doesn’t have: a marquee non-conference win over a big-time national foe. ODU made its splash early in November by beating Big East power No. 12 Georgetown 75-62.
Both teams, however, likely don’t merit an at-large bid, so both teams will need to win the likely showdown in the conference tournament to get a chance to try on some footwear next month.
6. Winthrop (23-4): The Eagles out of the Big South will provide a tough case for the NCAA selection committee should they not secure a bid through their conference tournament (they currently lead their conference at 12-0).
Winthrop has fallen in each of its four shots at a signature victory (North Carolina, Maryland, Wisconsin in OT, Texas A&M) but beat Missouri State on the road over the weekend in their Bracket Buster game, and also beat Old Dominion on the road. The Eagles, led by guards Michael Jenkins and Torrell Martin, can definitely play.