Santa Clara vs. George Mason

Monday, April 1st, 7:00 PM PDT

CBI Championship Series Game One

George Mason Patriots at Santa Clara Broncos

Leavey Center, Santa Clara, California.

George Mason hails from the Colonial Athletic Association. The Patriots are 21-14 on the season, 10-8 in CAA regular season play, 12-8 away from home and are currently on a three game winning streak.

Santa Clara is 24-11 on the season, 15-5 at home and currently on a three game winning streak.

TV: AXS TV

(Honestly, I don't know anything about AXS other than Mark Cuban owns it. Find out if you have it here.)

Radio: KDOW 1220 AM in the Bay Area.

Online: Free live audio from KDOW and live video from Santa Clara Athletics ($9.95).

Here we have a game between two former Cinderellas for whom the clock struck midnight long ago. Santa Clara's Steve Nash led 15 over 2 upset of Arizona is pretty much forgotten save for the times (like this year) when a 15 beats a 2 in the NCAA Tournament. George Mason opened the door for mid-majors to run to the final four when the Patriots did so in 2006. Neither team has had nearly the same level of success in the years since, but now they're playing for a national championship.

George Mason is exactly the kind of team that should be in a tournament like this, just barely above average. Nothing the Patriots have done jumps off the stat sheet. They're slightly above average in their ability to score, 1.0 points per possession compared to the national average of 0.98ppp. They're slightly above average in their ability to stop teams from scoring, 0.97ppp allowed compared to the national average of 0.99ppp allowed.

That sort of production, while above average, came against below average competition. Only six of the Patriots' 35 games were against RPI top-100 opposition, of which two were wins (home vs. Virginia and neutral vs. Richmond) and only one was against a top-50 team. Santa Clara is an RPI top-100 team.

The Broncos offense has been humming thus far in the CBI and George Mason doesn't have the defensive prowess to stop it or the offensive firepower to keep up. But, we all know the game is not won on paper but on the court. For some reason (possibly Gym size) George Mason is the "home" team for the series and will host games two and three. If the Broncos can get the win tonight, in Santa Clara, they will be in prime position to win the tournament. If they can't they will face a long uphill climb all the way across the country in Fairfax, VA.