George Mason Patriots

George Mason basketball put a suburban Virginia commuter school on the national map with one of the most improbable runs in NCAA tournament history. The Patriots play at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, just outside Washington, D.C., and carry the pride of having authored one of the sport's great Cinderella stories. Mason's identity is built on that underdog moment, and it continues to shape how the program and its fans see themselves in the Atlantic 10. It's a program forever associated with proving that mid-majors belong on the biggest stage.

George Mason's defining moment came in 2006, when the 11th-seeded Patriots, a program that had never previously won an NCAA tournament game, stunned Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State, and top overall seed Connecticut to reach the Final Four. The run tied the 1986 LSU Tigers for the lowest seed ever to reach the Final Four and is widely credited with paving the way for later mid-major Cinderella runs from Butler, VCU, and Loyola-Chicago. George Mason has never won a national championship, and the 2006 Final Four remains by far the program's signature achievement. The university itself became independent in 1972 after operating as a branch of the University of Virginia.