SURPRISE PARTY NOT MANY EXPECTED TO SEE THIS FINAL FOUR.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

INDIANAPOLIS - This is just too much fun. One of the most exciting NCAA Tournaments ever and still with a grand finale to come.

There are storylines and subplots and emotional tuggings galore. Every team wide-eyed and excited, each with a legitimate chance to exit the Final Four as national champion.

George Mason is playing for all the mid-major schools everywhere. LSU is playing for Katrina-ravaged Louisiana. UCLA is playing for tradition and champions past. Florida is playing so people actually understand it is more than a football school.

Every team has dodged bullets to get here. Every team is trying hard not to be too happy just being here. Each remains extremely confident it has two more wins in it.

There may never have been a more upside-down, can-this-be-happening, wacky, uncertain NCAA Tournament.

And now it's come here, to tonight's NCAA Tournament semifinals at the RCA Dome, the Florida Gators taking on everyone's new darlings, the George Mason Somethings, in the first game, and LSU and everyone's new darling player, Glen ``Big Baby'' Davis, taking on UCLA in the nightcap.

Not a single No. 1 seed among them. Not a clear favorite in the bunch.

There is absolutely no doubt, though, which team has most of America pulling for it.

George Mason was supposed to be lucky just to get an invite to the party. Then it went it took this Cinderella thing too seriously, like it forgot all about the pumpkin part.

Most had never heard of the school before, let alone be able to tell you where it's from (Fairfax, Va.). It is no tiny school (almost 30,000 students), but almost half are graduate students and most are commuters. It's like Cal State Northridge making the Final Four.

``I'm having a blast,'' said George Mason coach Jim Larranaga at Friday's press conference. ``My players are enjoying it. By just looking out there, the sea of lights and cameras, reporters covering us, it's been an absolutely fantastic magic carpet ride.''

It's impossible not to like the Patriots. Larranaga calls them ``a bunch of no-name guys.'' They're all smiles, kids who can't believe they've walked into the world's biggest candy store.

Guard Lamar Butler was peaking through the curtains while Larranaga spoke Friday, his eyes large as hoops.

``I was looking at how big the room was, how many media people were here,'' Butler said. ``Never seen this many people just to ask questions and write a story.''

There was something else he had never seen until arriving in Indianapolis.

``I've never even been inside of a dome,'' he said. ``I've played football in a basketball gym, but never basketball in a football arena.''

When Butler's press conference was over, he turned to the moderator and asked if he could keep his name placard.

Of course, you can't have adorable good guys without someone in black.

``I think we're definitely going to be the villain,'' Florida forward Joakim Noah said.

America has been taken in by George Mason's unexpected run. The only other 11th-seeded team to make it to the Final Four was LSU in 1986. The last mid-majors to make it were Penn and Indiana State in 1979.

``It's us against the world right now,'' said Gators forward Corey Brewer. ``Everybody is going to be cheering for George Mason. It's a great story. If I were a fan, I'd probably be cheering for them, too.''

Said Florida's Chris Richard: ``Everyone wants to see that story have a perfect ending.''

Florida has emerged as the slight title favorite. The Gators are heavily favored against George Mason, but then so was UConn, North Carolina and Michigan State.

LSU, however, is on some kind of roll. Davis and freshman Tyrus Thomas already have NBA scouts drooling.

Davis weighs in, maybe on a cattle scale, at 310 pounds, and is frequently compared to Shaquille O'Neal, both for his physique and his way with words. He took the comparison a step further Friday when asked about officials.

``I don't really have anything to say about that,'' Davis said. ``I just seem to get screwed anyway because of how big I am, just all the flopping.''

Was Vlade Divac in the house?

When Davis was asked about his special diet, apparently including organic oatmeal, he said: ``You ever watch 'Fear Factor?' You know how you're sitting there, you see this nasty food but you want to eat it 'cause you can get a lot of money? That's how I look at it. It was like, 'You know, if I eat this, I can make a lot of money one day.' ''

He said winning an NCAA title earns an ``immortality trophy,'' and although mindful of UCLA's storied past, wasn't about to me intimidated.

``Last time I checked the roster, Bill Walton wasn't playing,'' Davis said. ``Kareem (Abdul-Jabbar) wasn't playing. Reggie Miller wasn't playing. We can't let that scare us. This is a different time.

``I respect their tradition tremendously ... but right now it's time to play. UCLA is just a couple of letters on the front of a jersey to me.''

The Tigers were incredibly loose, but UCLA coach Ben Howland hardly saw the Bruins' tradition as added pressure.

``It's not a negative,'' Howland said. ``We draw power from that feeling.''

This is feeling like some Final Four. One where anything can happen. Where a fitting Final Four seems almost unavoidable.

CAPTION(S):

8 photos, 2 boxes, chart

Photo:

(1 -- color) ATLANTA REGIONAL collage

(2 -- color) OAKLAND REGIONAL collage

(3 -- color) WASHINGTON REGIONAL collage

(4 -- color) MINNEAPOLIS REGIONAL collage

(5 -- color) no caption (Glen Davis)

(6 -- color) no caption (George Mason basketball player)

(7 -- color) no caption (Arron Aflalo)

(8 -- color) no caption (Joakim Noah)

Box:

(1) GEORGE MASON VS. FLORIDA

(2) UCLA VS. LSU

Chart:

WHAT ARE THE ODDS?