Colonial Revolution
So get this…
I’m at a wedding on the Sunday evening of the George Mason-UConn Washington regional final game. There is no worse place for a college hoops fan to be on regional final night than a wedding at a locale devoid of televisions. Fortunately, I found a nephew of the groom who brought his laptop to this blessed event. Thank goodness for kids with short attention spans and their tech toys.
I kindly asked the kid if he would stop instant messaging his 15 friends simultaneously just long enough for me to get a score of the game. After a long pre-teen sigh, he relented and we logged on to CBSSportsline.com. You can imagine my dumbfoundedness when I caught the score of the George Mason-UConn game. I blinked hard and looked away from the screen for a moment. Hey, it was dark in that social hall and, after downing a few Cabernets, my eyes weren’t too reliable. I fixed my sights on the screen again. It was then, after much staring and confirming, that I shouted out an expletive prefaced with the word “Holy.”
This was during the best man’s speech. I’ve always had a knack for timing. After retreating to the lobby to call a few contacts to make sure this was not some internet hacker’s practical joke, I caught my breath and changed my thinking. The face of the Final Four would be changed forever. Well, at least until next year.
There is no question that George Mason became the flag bearer for all mid-major teams looking for respect. Because of the Patriots’ unlikely run to the Final Four, superior teams in non-power conferences have something to inspire them when setting preseason goals. But more profoundly, Mason has blazed a trail for its Colonial Athletic Association brethren – a conference that did more than just submit a Cinderella story to the Big Dance.
Was this the year the CAA jumped from mid-major to major? Let’s see:
- Half of the conference’s 12 teams finished above .500, with four teams participating in postseason play and two teams participating in each of the postseason Final Fours.
- George Mason, 27-8, made the Final Four, and gave eventual champion Florida one good half of basketball. On their way there, the Patriots shocked tourney juggernauts Michigan State and North Carolina, up-and-comer Wichita State and perennial favorite Connecticut. Answer honestly: did you really have the Patriots getting out of the first round against Michigan State?
- UNC-Wilmington closed out its season at 25-8, but not after taking George Washington to overtime in a first round loss. The Seahawks have won four of the last seven CAA championships and have established themselves as a mainstay in the NCAA tournament play.
- Hofstra, a team that many basketball pundits felt got snubbed for an NCAA bid, finished out the season at 26-7, defeating George Mason twice in less than two weeks. During the regular season the Pride knocked off higher RPI teams St. John’s and La Salle on their home floors and proved they were no fluke against Nebraska and Saint Joseph’s in the NIT. Their postseason run ended against conference foe Old Dominion.
- Old Dominion split with George Mason in 2005-06 and squeaked by UNCW in the teams’ only meeting this year. The Monarchs erased Colorado and Manhattan in the NIT, and their win against Hofstra was the Pride’s only home loss this season, ending a 21-game win streak.
So, based on these accomplishments, has the CAA become at least comparable to the Atlantic 10? Have they become a poor man’s Conference USA? Conventional wisdom asks us to wait till next year because, well, you’re only as good as your last season. But if winning does what it’s supposed to – that being garner greater exposure for a school, help recruit better players and bolster a team’s schedule – then we’ll see more CAA representation in future postseason tournaments.
