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The 35-year-old Northern Virginia school has been working hard to win the reputation that their playing deserves since they began playing basketball in 1966 against opponents such as Episcopal Seminary.

There are no national top scorers, no big name superstars in the roster. They play as a team and every member works hard. Most of the teams players come from neighboring Maryland, but one junior forward, Jesus Urbina, came all the way from Barquisimeto, Venezuela to play at GMU.

No team from the conference had ever won any NCAA championship round. The Patriots ended that when their 2005 - 2006 Cinderella season ended with an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. There were quite a few experts who questioned whether this team belonged in the tournament at all. Seeded number 11 in the Washington DC Region, they faced higher ranked schools...and pulled out the stops in every game. They answered all of the questions by winning a place in the Final Four.

When a reporter asked coach, Jim Larranaga, about their outstanding performance he explained, "We've been playing this way all year. You just haven't seen us."

Continue to keep your eye on GMU...

More about George Mason men's basketball around the Web:

George Mason University - Men's Basketball - Official site of the Patriots - News, feature stories, roster, schedule, updated stats.

SI.com George Mason University Patriots - Sports Illustrated team page for GMU Patriots men's basketball team featuring comprehensive information, the roster, standings, stats, rankings, game-by-game, conference page and conference scores.

Yahoo! Sports College Basketball - George Mason U Patriots - This site is the place to visit to get scores, schedule rankings, standings, stats, team photos and live broadcasts.

George Mason University Patriots Basketball News - All Patriots news, all the time, with links to breaking stories, player profiles and magazine articles around the Web, from Topix.net

Also see -> Basketball | March Madness