Missouri Valley 1, Nantz/Packer 0

During their verbal assault posing as an interview with NCAA Selection Committee Chairman Craig Littlepage on Selection Sunday, one of the main targets of CBS announcers was the quantity of teams from the Missouri Valley Conference (four) picked at the exclusion of teams from the power conferences.

Guess who looks smarter now? In this piece from Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer Tony Barnhart, Nantz and Packer offer no apology for accosting Littlepage that night. They do, however, acknowledge that Littlepage and his committee appear to have done a better job than they originally gave him credit for.

I admit sharing much of Nantz and Packer's scepticism that night, especially toward George Mason. Well, all the Patriots have done is knock out two of last year's Final Four teams, something I doubt any other school has done before. I admit it, I was wrong. In sifting through the carnage of my brackets over the past few days, that has become one of my more frequent phrases.

I work with two people connected with George Mason one alum and one current student. Neither of them are particularly interested in college basketball, but they both came in Monday morning beaming at the Patriots' success over the weekend. Big-time athletic success does have an impact in how people view their school, even those who are not boosters or even serious fans.