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Maybe the clock won’t strike midnight after all.
For those wondering what I am getting at, it’s an old expression in college basketball referring to a Cinderella team. Cinderella teams are those schools that have a good run but like the character herself, they have to leave the ball early.
In this case, Cinderella may not be leaving at all. With the possible exception of the University of Florida, this year’s Final Four is comprised of nothing but Cinderella teams.
Instead of turning a pumpkin into a carriage, they turned every analyst such as a Billy Packer or Dick Vitale into a casual fan watching the tournament because not too many people saw this coming.
Florida, George Mason, LSU and UCLA.
Not to take anything away from the other three schools, but having George Mason in the Final Four has to come as the biggest surprise. Florida, LSU and UCLA don’t come as that big of a surprise because as this tournament kept going, these teams were legitimate threats to win the whole thing.
But George Mason in the Final Four?
The only thing that school is a legitimate threat for is well, yeah, I can’t really think of anything. That’s my point. When you think college basketball powerhouses this is a school that does not come to mind.
Jumping on the Colonial bandwagon seems like it’s the trendy thing to do because after all, that is what March Madness is all about. It’s about schools and teams that not many people have heard of attempting to make a name for themselves.
When you look at all these teams, they all have great stories behind them. Realistically, none of these teams were chosen to go this far and in LSU and UF’s case, they were not even picked to win the Southeastern Conference going into the season. If you had asked anyone in SEC Land what two teams would be going to the Final Four, most would have said Kentucky and Tennessee.
In UCLA’s case, people knew they were going to be good but to get back to the Final Four for the first time in almost a decade was something not too many people expected.
No matter who wins, here is one thing that can be said – it’s a good thing that the Final Four turned out this way. Let’s be honest, normally when this thing has come down to four teams, we all know who is going to win and that makes it somewhat boring. Now that there is no clear winner, this tournament should be more exciting.
Seeing George Mason win the whole thing may not be that bad. This is only the second time in history where an 11-seed has made the Final Four. Then again seeing any of the other teams win may not be bad.
Even though the Colonials may not win this, there is at least one certainty – either way, this Cinderella is going to be leaving the ball with one massive hangover.
