Jafus (Thinker)
Well-Known Member
More non-I-A football schools have Final Four chance
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney06/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2376814
As late Sunday climbed into early Monday, George Mason coach Jim Larranaga's voice sounded fatigued and drained.
Larranaga had just come from a welcome-home gathering he estimated had about 2,000 loyal Patriots fans in attendance. They had come to greet the conquering players and staff after George Mason dethroned defending champion North Carolina in Dayton earlier in the day.
Larranaga hadn't seen George Mason's campus like this before.
Monday was scheduled as an off day for his players, but Larranaga knew he would be spending the bulk of his day doing media interviews. His counterpart, Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon, had said Saturday that he expected this week to be like no other and that already he was trying to determine how he was going to handle the media onslaught.
Ahh, the Sweet 16, where mid-major programs come to get their 15 minutes of fame, only to be swept out before serious stuff starts happening in the Final Four.
This is the type of furor that happens when a mid-major reaches a regional. And you wonder why the sport hasn't had a team from a conference that doesn't play Division I-A football in the Final Four since UMass in 1996? (Marquette, a non-football-playing member of Conference USA at the time, made it in 2003.) ...
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaatourney06/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=2376814
As late Sunday climbed into early Monday, George Mason coach Jim Larranaga's voice sounded fatigued and drained.
Larranaga had just come from a welcome-home gathering he estimated had about 2,000 loyal Patriots fans in attendance. They had come to greet the conquering players and staff after George Mason dethroned defending champion North Carolina in Dayton earlier in the day.
Larranaga hadn't seen George Mason's campus like this before.
Monday was scheduled as an off day for his players, but Larranaga knew he would be spending the bulk of his day doing media interviews. His counterpart, Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon, had said Saturday that he expected this week to be like no other and that already he was trying to determine how he was going to handle the media onslaught.
Ahh, the Sweet 16, where mid-major programs come to get their 15 minutes of fame, only to be swept out before serious stuff starts happening in the Final Four.
This is the type of furor that happens when a mid-major reaches a regional. And you wonder why the sport hasn't had a team from a conference that doesn't play Division I-A football in the Final Four since UMass in 1996? (Marquette, a non-football-playing member of Conference USA at the time, made it in 2003.) ...