No 'David' in these Patriots

Shame on me, and shame on anyone else who saw George Mason beat Michigan State, North Carolina and Wichita State and doubt the Patriots had enough game to beat UConn. While every available number insists this was an upset -- from the Top 25 to the NCAA Tournament seedings to the recruiting ranking of each player on both rosters -- the eyeballs tell you something else. George Mason beat UConn because George Mason was better than UConn. End of story.

When N.C. State beat Houston in 1983, it required all kinds of craziness. Houston couldn't shoot -- 38.2 percent from the floor, 52.6 percent from the line -- and star guard Clyde Drexler scored just four points after picking up four fouls in the first half. And even then, N.C. State needed Lorenzo Charles' right-place, right-time putback at the buzzer to win.

When Villanova beat Georgetown in 1985, 'Nova had to shoot a nearly perfect game and get the perfect whistle. The Wildcats shot 78.6 percent from the floor -- the floor -- and attempted 27 free throws compared to just eight for the Hoyas.

In other words, those games were statistical flukes.

This was no fluke. George Mason shot 50 percent from the floor, UConn 47 percent. The Patriots shot a similar number of free throws. Foul trouble was not an issue. Nobody got hurt. A meteor shower didn't alter Denham Brown's final shot at the buzzer.

UConn simply got beat. If these two teams played this game on this floor 10 more times, George Mason wouldn't win 10. But neither would UConn.

That's why Larranaga, after the game, wanted no part of the "greatest upset ever" conversation. He was there when Chaminade beat Virginia. And he was here for George Mason over UConn. He sees no comparison.

"I had a front-row seat to what Chaminade did," Larranaga said. "They beat a great basketball team in Virginia. Super-great players like Ralph Sampson, Rick Carlisle. That was a great team.

"I think maybe the difference (between that game and this one) is we never saw ourselves as a No. 1 seed or a No. 11 seed or a 16th seed. That number was truly irrelevant to us. It was irrelevant to me, and I tried to get it across to our guys that it's irrelevant. Once you get on the court, nobody really cares where your seed is. It's about performance and execution."

Nobody performs or executes like George Mason. You listening, Florida? You got that, LSU and UCLA? George Mason has gone from something fluky to something fun to something ferocious.

Today, now that George Mason has beaten UConn to get into the Final Four, people are going to write about David and Goliath.

What if George Mason is Goliath?