CINDERELLA NEVER LOOKED THIS GOOD GEORGE MASON MORE THAN A FLUKE.

Byline: Matthew Kredell Staff Writer

George Mason doesn't have a fairy godmother.

Cinderella turned back into a handmaiden come midnight. In college basketball terms, Cinderella pulls off an upset or two, gains the national spotlight for a week and then fades away while the usual suspects fight for the national championship.

``Everyone is calling us a Cinderella team,'' guard Tony Skinn said. ``Cinderella is supposed to get a couple of wins. Now we have four. I don't think we're a Cinderella team anymore. Now we're just going to keep playing good basketball.''

George Mason will join 1986 Louisiana State as the only double-digit seeds to compete in the Final Four when it faces Florida on Saturday.

In one of the most amazing runs in tournament history, George Mason knocked off Michigan State, defending champion North Carolina and top-seeded Connecticut, along with Wichita State.

Most mid-majors would look at that as a brilliant decade, let alone a good couple of weeks.

``These guys are loose,'' coach Jim Larranaga said. ``They are having a ball. They are having a lot of fun. They like playing for George Mason University. They like what they have been able to accomplish. They have not felt the pressure of expectations. They have basically continued to do what they have done every day this year, which is to have fun playing ball and playing with each other.''

The Patriots, who sweated out Selection Sunday to get an at-large bid and 11th seed, have reached a point where seeds no longer matter.

Four teams on equal footing remain. George Mason just happens to be the one few had heard of before the start of March Madness, even though it sits little more than 20 miles outside the nation's capital.

The transformation from mid-major player to giant killer didn't happen with the wave of a magic wand. Something special has been building at the Fairfax, Va., school all season, and the foundation was laid nine years ago when Larranaga took over.

The Patriots started playing basketball in 1966 but had only one NCAA Tournament appearance when Larranaga got the job in 1997.

Larranaga, who had 11 years coaching experience at Bowling Green, began instilling his trademark scrappy, frenetic defense. After suffering through its eighth consecutive losing season his first year, George Mason has had a winning record every year since.

``I'm sure there have been more hits on our Web site in the last 10 days than maybe there was in the last five years,'' Larranaga said. ``... We've been on every media outlet, radio show and television show imaginable. That kind of exposure, you can't pay for.''

The Patriots made the NCAA Tournament in 1999 and 2001 by winning the Colonial Athletic Association, losing in the first round each time. But they were close to a huge upset in 2001, coming within three points of third-seeded Maryland.

There aren't any moments that can be looked at as signaling this historic run.

Coming off a sixth-place finish in the CAA last season, George Mason tied with North Carolina-Wilmington for the regular-season conference title. The Patriots were 23-7 heading into the NCAA Tournament but did not have a single victory over a major program and lost in the CAA semifinals to Hofstra.

What George Mason did have was three senior starters, five players who could score, a strong inside-outside game, a defense ranked among the top 10 in the nation for field-goal percentage allowed, a team-oriented approach and a coach who had the players motivated.

``I mean, we got guys on the team that are just hungry to win,'' Skinn said. ``It doesn't matter who does what as long as we get that 'W' at the end of the game. We are all unselfish and such a well-balanced team, and I think that we have five guys on the floor that are all on the same page. That equals out as a good team.''

The selection committee made George Mason the second CAA school ever to get an at-large bid, at the time one of the tournament's most controversial picks.

Now the committee members look like geniuses.

Matthew Kredell, [phone]

matthew.kredell(at)dailynews.com

WHO IS (THE REAL) GEORGE MASON?

George Mason (1725-1772) is one of the nation's lesser-known founding fathers. The Virginian helped frame the Constitution but refused to sign it because of several concerns, first and foremost the absence of a declaration of rights. The Bill of Rights, added a year before his death, was based on his Virginia Declaration of Rights. Mason could have fielded a basketball team himself if the sport existed in the 18th century. He fathered 12 children in 23 years.

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Senior forward Jai Lewis has been one of George Mason's key players during its run to the Final Four.

Andy Lyons/Getty Images

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WHO IS (THE REAL) GEORGE MASON? (see text)