George Mason's win over VCU puts them into the NCAA Tournament discussion

George Mason went into the Siegel Center in Richmond, VA, on Tuesday night and ran VCU off their own home court, winning 71-51.

With the win, Mason opened up a two game lead on VCU, Hofstra, and Old Dominion in the CAA standings, ensuring themselves, at minimum, a share of the league's regular season title with just two games left on their schedule.

More importantly, however, the Patriots have thrown themselves smack into the middle of the at-large conversation, and maybe even onto the right side of the bubble.


There may not be a hotter team in the country than George Mason. They have now won 12 straight games after losing back to back road games to Hofstra and Old Dominion in early January. Four of their last five wins have come against the four teams directly behind the Patriots in the CAA standings. Each of those games were decided by at least 14 points.

Coming into tonight, the Patriots sat at 23rd in the RPI, a number that will almost assuredly rise with a 20 point win on the road against a top 75 team. But that number may be a bit inflated; Mason hasn't exactly played the most rigorous schedule. Their two best wins coming into the night came against Harvard and Old Dominion, neither of whom are a lock to make the NCAA Tournament and they have non-conference losses to NC State, Wofford, and Dayton.

That said, the CAA is pretty strong at the top. There are six teams that have cracked the RPI's top 100, meaning that Mason can boast a solid 8-4 record against the top 100, with two of those wins (Harvard and ODU) coming against the top 50. Saturday's bracket buster game at Northern Iowa is another potential top 100 road win.

Not that it matters, but the Patriots look like a tournament team.

They have a balanced scoring attack -- four players average double figures and two more averages more than six points. There is some size and scoring inside with Ryan Pearson and Mike Morrison. Cam Long, who is finally playing up to his potential, and Luke Hancock are both athletic playmakers on the wings. And Isaiah Tate and Andre Cornelius can keep the floor spread with their ability to shoot the rock.

George Mason still has some work to do. With three regular season games left (they also have Georgia State and Northeastern in addition to Northern Iowa) and a conference tournament, which takes place in Richmond, to play.

In other words, the Patriots are no means a lock to make the tournament. And if they get there, they are by no means going to be expected to repeat their 2006 Final Four run.

But as of today, this should be an NCAA Tournament team.