Final Four That Nobody Expected

First off, congratulations are in order for Florida, UCLA and LSU. All three schools eclipsed pre-season and pre-tourney expectations to make it to the Final Four in Indianapolis. As for the fourth team heading to Indy ... Well, congrats don't quite make the grade. For the George Mason Patriots deserve a little more than a hand shake. To make it out of the Washington D.C. bracket, No. 11 seed George Mason knocked off 2005 Final 4 participant Michigan State, defending national champion North Carolina, underrated Wichita State and No. 1 Connecticut -- a team filled with future NBA stars such as Rudy Gay and Marcus Williams. For surviving such a tough road to the 4, George Mason is my pick to win the 2006 National Championship, they've earned my respect. Florida, LSU, and UCLA all have better talent and they earned their way here as well but in the year of the madness in March Madness, George Mason is my pick to win it all. If this comes to be true, Cinderella won't have anything on George Mason. They are the first No. 11 seed since LSU in 1986 to make the Final Four. They are also the first team from the Colonial Athletic Association to make it to this level of the NCAA Tournament. Another point on George Mason is that even though I make a point to watch almost every college basketball game televised, I never caught the Patriots on the tube -- I just so happened to see them play against Northeastern in Boston back in January. If not for a few free tickets, George Mason would be a complete mystery to me. As it stands, I still don't know where they came from and that puts me in company with former national championship coaches Tom Izzo, Jim Calhoun and Roy Williams. The Final Four kicks off Saturday night with George Mason playing against Florida with UCLA and LSU matching up as well. Will the truly unexpected happen -- can George Mason make it to the national championship game a week from tonight against the UCLA/LSU winner and actually win the 2006 national championship? We'll find out starting this weekend.