George Mason Final Four Shocker

March 31, 2006 — -- Sixty-five college teams competed in the NCAA basketball tournament known as March Madness, and of those teams, 40 were seeded higher than George Mason University.

Now, GMU, a little-known school 35 miles outside of Washington, D.C., has steamrolled its way to the Final Four, making it the first No. 11 seed in two decades to get there.

"It's really good to be here," said GMU student Anthony Hall. "It's good to be a part of something like this."

The Patriots blazed through some serious competition to make it this far. They beat No. 1-seeded UConn in an overtime shocker.

"By George, the dream is alive," said an announcer at the end of the game.

"When that final buzzer went off," said Patriots' guard Lamar Butler Jr., "it was just pure joy. Indescribable joy."

The little-college-that-could now stands just two victories away from the NCAA championship.

"Destiny is not a matter of chance," Patriots coach Jim Larranaga said. "It's a matter of choice."

Who could have predicted that a team that ends each practice with a game of baseball and whose coach has been known to sing the "Mission Impossible" theme at pep rallies would have this incredible run in March Madness?

Russel Pleasant did. He's one of four people out of the 3 million who picked George Mason on his ESPN.com bracket.

"At first I sort of got it confused with George Washington. But once I realized it, I said, 'You know, why not George Mason?'" Pleasant said.

"I just said, 'I'm going to go with George Mason all the way,'" he added.

After this weekend, it's safe to say that no one will ever confuse George Mason with another university ever again.

"Finally, we're recognized altogether for the amazing school that we are," said GMU student Tina Montgomery.

GMU's berth in the Final Four has also meant a boom in applications. According to the dean, the school had 50,000 hits on its Web site in a single afternoon.