There's a vote on the espn.com front page right now for the "biggest Cinderella story in NCAA tournament history". Its between:

'06 George Mason
'90 Loyola-Marymount
'85 Villanova
'83 NC State

We're currently in 3rd place, everyones voting for the George Mason story.

3/27/2006 11:19:42 PM

ummmmmmmmmm a bit premature

3/27/2006 11:21:21 PM

This isn't even skewing... it's truff... lnx plx...

3/27/2006 11:23:25 PM

http://www.espn.com

3/27/2006 11:25:22 PM

I'd go with the 11 seed in the final four over a 6 seed winning it. If George Mason wins two more games, there's not even a question what the biggest Cinderella in history is.

3/27/2006 11:26:14 PM

even if the don't win, this story will be cemented in history based on how they go in the tournament and who they beat to get there. Getting the championship alone will further erase any doubt, even 83 doesn't compare.

3/27/2006 11:30:20 PM

george mason didn't have to win their conference tourney just to get into the the big dance

3/27/2006 11:30:36 PM

The tournament was different back then, a different format. Seeds 1-4 got a bye into the second round. Still if George Mason wins it all, would be a great Cinderalla story. But our '83 tournament run, wasn't the Cinderalla story term invented to describe it?

3/27/2006 11:33:03 PM

the .... shocker?

[Edited on March 27, 2006 at 11:33 PM. Reason : 0]

3/27/2006 11:33:05 PM

no matter how biased you are towards nc state, there is no denying that if GM wins it all, they will be the biggest cinderella in NCAA tournament history

3/27/2006 11:35:55 PM

seriously.

who is George Mason

3/27/2006 11:36:31 PM

Quote :

"george mason didn't have to win their conference tourney just to get into the the big dance"

no they didn't but they barely got in because they didn't win the tournment. Also the field was smaller in 83 so if there was a field of 64 then it would have been proabable that State could have got in without the championship.

What's more amazing about George Mason though is that they don't play in the tier conference like the ACC so they don't play tournment level teams at the scale State did in the regular season. Yeah they lost to Wake, a game to the CAA champs UNCW and a team that could have arguably replaced Air-Force in Hofstra but in all that they barely got in.

Then GMU, without their star player, beats Michigan State , a team that has won a championship and has played at the tournment level. Next, the Patriots take out the defending champs, slide by the Shockers and get past the team who many felt should have taken it all this year in UCONN.

I am not downplaying State's 83 team, they played great and had a memorable run while taking out some of the great teams of that time but, State didn't nearly have to overcome the obstacles that George Mason did. At least they had a garanteed ticket in winning the conference tournment. During the selection show many among the team didn't even think they would get in.

[Edited on March 27, 2006 at 11:48 PM. Reason : .]

3/27/2006 11:40:15 PM

I'm voting for '90 Loyola Marymount

their best player died before the tournament and they still went deep

3/27/2006 11:44:43 PM

i'm biased towards nc state too, but let's be realistic. Our 83 championship run was great and the first true cinderella story, but Villanova's was the biggest upset. Villanova is the highest seed (8) to ever win the NCAA's, they were 10 point underdogs in the championship game, and did everything it took to win by 2....including shooting around 75% for the game and over 90% from the field in the second half

3/27/2006 11:47:23 PM

their athletic director was on the selection commitee

Quote :

"The athletic director of one of the more controversial inclusions, George Mason, was on the committee. By rule, Tom O'Connor had to recuse himself from the room when the Patriots were being discussed. But you still have to wonder whether his presence on the committee was any sort of boost for a school that will play its first-round game without its second-leading scorer, guard Tony Skinn, who is suspended after groin-punching a Hofstra player in the CAA tournament."

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2366077

3/27/2006 11:47:57 PM

so the fuck what, they have more than proved they were worthy to be invited

3/27/2006 11:48:46 PM

so the fuck what, they have more than proved they were worthy to be invited

3/27/2006 11:49:17 PM

Hank Gathers for the win

3/27/2006 11:50:03 PM

Even if he wasn't on the committee, I think GMU had made thier case that they should have been considered when becoming the regular season champs in the CAA.

[Edited on March 27, 2006 at 11:51 PM. Reason : .]

3/27/2006 11:50:52 PM

so the fuck what, they have more than proved they were worthy to be invited

3/28/2006 12:29:38 AM

Quote :

"guard Tony Skinn, who is suspended after groin-punching a Hofstra player in the CAA tournament.""

Haha. Chris Paul's cousin. I forgot all about that.

I dunno about them being in and all, but could not have Cincy or FSU made this same run???

I mean they really should have gotten in over them and all, but would they go this far?

3/28/2006 12:33:36 AM

Of course George Mason is skewed because it's the cinderella team of most recent memory. Most ESPN pollsters have no sense of history and how "big" these other cinderella stories really were.

I have no idea what Loyola-Marymount or Villanova did. Therefore, I'd inch towards NC State or George Mason.

Anybody know who State had to beat in order to win the conference? I know one of the teams was Virginia, but that's it.

3/28/2006 12:34:57 AM

We beat Wake by 1 I think, Carolina in OT, and then UVA in the championship game.

3/28/2006 12:37:07 AM

Wow list of superstars:
1. Jordan, Perkins - split reg season, OT win in ACCT
2. Len Bias - swept us
3. Ralph Sampson (3time nat'l POY) - swept us reg season, 3pt win ACCfinals, 1pt win RegFinal
4. Akeem, Drexler - Phi Slama Jamma nuff said

IF we had to win the ACCT to dance then you could arguably say we had to string together 9 wins. Sports is all about timing and now is GMU's time. But with that said, I'll add this. Our last second shot was the perfect ending to the 'perfect' Cinderella story.

3/28/2006 1:33:33 AM

The last second shot was indeed perfect, but Nova shooting 90% in the second half was also batshit insane.

[Edited on March 28, 2006 at 1:40 AM. Reason : s]

3/28/2006 1:40:33 AM