The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 162 is George Mason basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of George Mason basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 1
- Elite Eights: 1
- Sweet 16s: 1
- NCAA wins: 5
- Bids: 6
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 16.6
- Bids per season: 0.13
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 1
- Conference Players of the Year: 6
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 5
- Conference tournament titles: 4
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on George Mason basketball
This one speaks for itself. In 2006, George Mason basketball went on the Cinderella run of all Cinderella runs. The Patriots marched on to the Final Four as an 11-seed. And people may forget that they were an at-large bid, after running through the CAA but losing to Hofstra, two spots below in our program rankings, in the conference tournament.
George Mason’s run was particularly impressive due to the magnitude of the programs they beat: 6-seed Michigan State, 3-seed North Carolina, 7-seed Wichita State, and 1-seed UConn, before losing to eventual champs, 3-seed Florida.
Current Patriots head coach Tony Skinn was one of the leaders of that team, sharing key duties with Jai Lewis, Lamar Butler, Will Thomas, and Folarin Campbell. And the team’s defense was impeccable, only allowing 60.1 points per game.
Of course, George Mason plays in the Atlantic-10 now, so they can’t fly under the radar any longer. But Skinn has been a fantastic coach, picking up where Kim English left off with three straight 20-win seasons. And before English, Dave Paulsen also had the program gliding along. In fact, they’ve had 8 winning seasons in their last 10.
And if we’re talking coaches, we have to mention Jim Larranaga, who guided them to the ’06 Final Four. He coached there from 1997-2011, also taking the Patriots dancing in 1999, 2001, 2008, and 2011, before landing his Power Conference opportunity with Miami (Fla).
The Patriots had only made the NCAA Tournament once before Larranaga got there, in 1989 under Ernie Nestor. Interestingly enough, the year prior, Rick Barnes was the head coach, leading them to a 20-10 record. It was his only season in town, heading to Providence that offseason.
George Mason has had some outstanding coaches, but hasn’t produced a ton of NBA talent. Tyler Kolek did play here, but made national noise once he transferred to Marquette.
Overall, the program has a winning culture and a March Madness moment that sits on its own pedestal.