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 In a blink of an eye, a restroom break, a text to a friend, and everything changes and changes and then changes. Welcome to another year of March Madness and this year, like every other year, a story can be argued as a piece of forever history.
This year not even history could give enough credit to what the 11th seeded George Mason Patriots have accomplished. It has happened once before, an 11th seed making it into the Final Four. Ironically, the last and only other 11th seed to make it to the Final Four is LSU who is back this year.
But LSU plays in the SEC, a powerhouse conference which is regularly represented in the Final Four. George Mason is a mid major, did anyone honestly know George Mason’s conference before their great run in the tournament? Andy Katz of ESPN.com says of George Mason’s run “this was the greatest run ever to the Final Four. End of discussion.” Katz might have a case but George Mason is only half the story. This year’s Final Four has been special in many different ways.  3PEAT INDEED: Reggie Vezia reminds the camer of what just happened as Anthony Brown and Johnny Gray remind the camera of who made it happen. With Katrina still fresh in the minds of the athletes of LSU, both the men’s and women’s teams have advanced to the Final Four if for anything to simply remind us of the people of Louisiana and their trials and tribulations.
There is the story of Cedric Bozeman of UCLA. Bozeman was supposed to be the savior of the Bruins program. But Bozeman went from savior to bust. Bozeman was one of the main reasons for coach Steve Lavin’s dismissal. Bozeman lost his starting job, got injured but did not transfer. Bozeman worked hard, sucked up his pride and was the catalyst in wins over Memphis and Gonzaga with his stellar defense.
This will be only the second time in the tournament history that no number one seed will be in the Final Four. 2006 will be remembered as the year of parody and hopefully the start of the mid major movement. No longer should the big name conferences dominate the seedings as parody is making more Giant killers and everyone loves making underdogs into darlings.
As fantastic of a tournament as 2006 has been it is still a little sour for this Pacific fan. The what-ifs crawl in the mind casting dark shadows on an otherwise bright tournament. What if in double overtime Johnny Grey and Christian Marker’s threes did not rim in and then out and Anthony Esparza had taken the charge on high flying Boston College Sean Williams “game changing” dunk.  Pacific cheer squad with Powercat in Salt Lake City, Utah at the first game of the NCAA tournament.
That would have been Williams 5th foul and Pacific would have had the ball back leading by one, with three minutes left and Williams shot blocking presence on the bench, next to starting center John Oates who had fouled out earlier in the game. What if there was no double overtime, as in overtime Craig Smith was on the line with the game on the line and pressure perspiring with every drop of sweat?
A .643 free throw shooter Craig Smith proved why he is an All-American and big players make big plays in big games theory. What if Louis Hinnant did not answer Mike Webb’s, two threes with one of his own? What if Johnny Gray with ice in his veins brought the ball up court and popped a three, giving Pacific a five point lead with a minute twelve seconds remaining, that was not answered by Jared Dudleys own three. Dudley, whose three cut the Pacific lead to two with fiftyfour seconds remaining, kept B.C. in the game and the rest is history. Oh, in the blink of an eye the momentum changed back and forth. There was no time to take in the game, to take pleasure in Webb and Gray pulling up in the faces of Boston College defenders, no time to enjoy Maraker working ACC big men with ease. No time to enjoy Anthony Brown, and Esparza mixing it up going toe to toe with the old Big East physicality of B.C. No time to enjoy Mike White positioning himself for easy points. No time to enjoy little Pacific be the better team for most of the game. In the blink of an eye, it was speechless and confusing. In the blink of an eye it went from texting friends to utter puzzlement.
 The Tigers celebrate after winning the Big West Tournament over Long Beach State in Anaheim giving Pacific a berth to the Big Dance.
Pacific played hard. On the road back from the Big West, listening to the experts fill us in on the seedings and brackets in the car, I was blown away by all the love B.C was getting. The only mention of Pacific was “B.C will be playing Pacific.” B.C this and B.C that, B.C will be in the Final Four and more and more jargon about the greatness of B.C. Andy Katz, Dick Vitale, and Pat Forde had B.C in the Final Four. Boston College should have beaten Villanova; B.C was the better team for most of the game, just like Pacific was a better team than B.C, as Pacific should have beaten B.C. But should haves, could haves, and what ifs do not bring victory, nor does being a better team for most of the game. Just ask Gonzaga’s Morrison, whose life was sucked right out of him on national television.
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