George Mason’s improbable run comes to an end vs Florida Gators
To the surprise of no one, George Mason University remains the biggest underdog in Indianapolis, with 4-1 odds posted by Bodog.com. Florida is the 8-5 favorite, followed by LSU at 12/5 and UCLA at 13/4.
Too bad you didn’t plunk down a few jelly beans on the Patriots before the NCAA tournament tipped off. The Patriots opened at 400-1, went to 65-1 entering the Sweet 16 and were still 35-1 before playing Washington Regional no. 1 seed UConn in the Elite Eight.
All George Mason had to do was knock off the past two national champions (2004 UConn and 2005 North Carolina), another team in last year’s Final Four (Michigan State) and four of the top seven seeds in the Washington, D.C., regional to become the bracket-busting Cinderella of all time in the NCAA tournament.
Up next for George Mason University is the University of Florida Gators, led by the towering Joakim Noah, whose tennis-playing, reggae-singing dad, Yannick Noah, became a hero in his native France after winning the 1983 singles title at Roland Garros, home of the French Open.
Four games ago hardly anyone, including National Basketball Association scouts, knew of Noah, a skinny sophomore with a ponytail of bushy hair and oodles of enthusiasm. Now he has emerged from his father’s shadow and morphed into NBA draft lottery material and a future millionaire, scouts say.
George Mason isn’t there yet. The Patriots could get blown out Saturday by Florida and be remembered merely as a team that won a few games they weren’t supposed to when it mattered most. A win against Florida, though, would up the ante. Add one more to that, and it becomes one for the ages.
These are two of the most balanced teams in the country. Florida’s five starters all average in double figures. Ditto for George Mason. Both teams play hard and are well-coached. The difference comes in the frontcourt, where the Gators boast Joakim Noah and Al Horford.
The difference between Florida and UConn, the Patriots’ previous victim, is that the Gators play hard all the time and have a killer instinct that was sorely lacking with Jim Calhoun’s Huskies. Florida will also do what UConn didn’t: Defend. In fact, Florida has limited opponents to 26.5 percent shooting from long-range in the team’s nine-game winning streak. That fact doesn’t bode well for George Mason.
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PREDICTION: Florida to destroy George Mason and set up a NCAA title game vs UCLA.
