It’s amazing how just a few games can change a college basketball program forever. There aren’t many better examples of this than the George Mason Patriots and their surreal run to the Final Four in 2006. Before that season, cheap George Mason basketball tickets were always easy to find. But after winning four games to reach the Final Four, the Patriots became known nationwide, suddenly making last-minute George Mason basketball tickets a hot commodity for many years to come.

Welcome to the Scene

It wasn’t until the 1980s that George Mason basketball discovered any type of serious success. The Patriots joined the Colonial Athletic Association in 1985 and immediately qualified for the NIT. In 1989, under first-year coach Ernie Nestor, the Patriots won the CAA Tournament title, earning the Patriots their first bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Lucky Jim

In 1997, Jim Larrañaga became the head coach at George Mason and changed the program forever. In his second season at the school, Larrañaga took the Patriots back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade. He also won two CAA Tournament titles and two CAA regular-season titles in his first four seasons. Then came the incredible run in 2006 when the no. 11 seed Patriots knocked off the likes of Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State, and Connecticut to reach the Final Four in one of the most improbable runs in NCAA Tournament history.

The Fun Continues

Surprisingly, Larrañaga didn’t leave George Mason after the 2006 Final Four. He stayed for five more seasons and took the Patriots to the NCAA Tournament two more times. Larrañaga set up the Patriots for future success, including a move to the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2013 that set up George Mason to compete at a higher level and remain one of the most noteworthy mid-major programs in the country.