March Madness: VCU run similar to George Mason’s in 2006
On Selection Sunday, the parallels between VCU’s surprise invitation to the big dance resembled George Mason’s invite five years ago.
Both are Colonial Athletic Association teams that received controversial bids to the NCAA basketball tournament after being ousted in their own conference tournament.
The Patriots and Rams were both an 11 seed in a region with a plethora of teams with national pedigree and impressive past tournament resumes.
George Mason defeated Michigan State, North Carolina and Wichita State to reach the East Regional final against top-seeded Connecticut in 2006 – a team who won the national championship just two years prior.
Including a play-in game due to a first-time expanded field, VCU eliminated Southern California, Georgetown, Purdue and Florida State to make last Sunday’s Southwest regional final against No. 1 seed Kansas, who is three years removed from a national title.
Ironically enough, Mason upset Michigan State and North Carolina in Dayton, Ohio, where VCU began their journey with a victory over Southern California.
Even going back to the regular-season, the Patriots and Rams both beat Wichita State, an important Bracketbuster win that bolstered sub-par resumes.
The last, and most important similarity, is both teams defied all odds and closed the deal by capping their historic runs by winning a fourth, or fifth if you’re VCU, in a row to be one of the last four teams standing.
Mason shocked the UConn Huskies 86-84 in overtime to secure one of the most improbable Final Four berths ever in the history of college basketball. Even more, they are, well were after Sunday night, the last double-digit seed to beat a No.1.
The Rams forced this comparison to be almost absolute identical by ousting No. 1 Kansas 71-61 to earn a ticket to Houston, Texas to play a stout Butler squad.
The main difference between these two spectacular runs though, is the margin of victory. Mason’s four tournament victories were by a combined 20 points, while VCU became only the second double-digit seeded team in history to win back-to-back games by at least 15 points – the Rams embarrassed basketball powerhouses Georgetown and Purdue by 18 each.
Kansas is by far the best team VCU has faced during their unimaginable run. The Jayhawks are superior to a Georgetown team whose best player and floor general was playing with a recovering broken left hand, and they are deeper than a Purdue team who lost one of their three stars, Robbie Hummel, for the season due to an ACL injury a year ago. And not to mention the Richmond Spiders, a team just 5.9 miles away on the other side of a city with a population of 200,000. Kansas handled the Spiders with ease en route to a 77-57 semifinal victory on Friday.
The freakish similarities are undoubtedly evident, but can VCU do what Mason couldn’t in 2006 and bring home a national championship?
Two more wins and this Ram’s squad will go down in history with completing the most inconceivable run college basketball has ever seen.
