Men’s Hoops ranked No. 25 in the new Coaches Poll

The Patriots have garnered a great deal of national attention during their 15-game winning streak to close out the regular season, but have been unable to crack the Top 25 until this week. (John Powell)

The wait is over. After three weeks of speculations about whether George Mason would crack the Top 25 before the end of the regular season, the Patriots are at last officially a ranked team.

The Patriots (25-5, 16-2) are sitting in the No. 25 slot in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. They received 70 votes, which proved to be just enough to slip into the national rankings. The 26th ranked team, Xavier, was just three votes behind with 67. Temple’s loss on Wednesday, ranked No. 24 at the time, opened the door for the Patriots to capture the final spot in the poll.

This is the first time Mason has been ranked since the final polls following their “Cinderella” run to the Final Four in 2006.

Last week the Patriots defeated Northeastern in the Patriot Center on senior night, 67-61, and Georgia State on the road, 65-58, to close out the regular season. They ended the season a perfect 14-0 at home and are currently riding a 15 game winning streak, the longest active streak in the country. They haven’t lost a basketball game since Jan. 8.

The win against Northeastern Thursday locked up the top seed for the Patriots in the upcoming CAA Tournament in Richmond. The tournament begins March 4, but the Patriots will have a first-round bye due to their outstanding performance from the regular season. They will face the winner of UNC Wilmington and Georgia State on Saturday, March 5. Mason is 2-0 against both teams this season.

No. 2 Old Dominion, No. 3 Hofstra and No. 4 VCU have first-round byes as well. If Mason and VCU take care of business as expected in their first games, it will set the stage for another Patriots-Rams rivalry matchup in the semifinals. The two teams met just once during the regular season, and Mason won easily in Richmond, 71-51. The Rams will be seeking revenge.

Despite winning 15 straight and winning the regular season conference title, the Patriots are still not ranked in the Top 25 in the AP Poll. They are sitting in a tie for the 26th slot with Temple. Both teams received 120 votes, nine short of No. 25 Utah State.

Well-known national college basketball writer John Feinstein, who attended Mason’s win over Old Dominion earlier this month, voted Mason 16th in his AP ballot. One other voter had Mason as high as 15th in the AP voting, but it still wasn’t enough.

The Patriots remain in the Top 25, however, in the RPI Poll. They are currently No. 24 and have been as high as No. 20. They actually moved backwards amidst their winning streak due to their mediocre strength of schedule, which is 84th nationally.

In Joe Lunardi’s latest “Bracketology” projections, released Monday, the Patriots are the seven-seed in the West Region in Anaheim. According to the Lunardi, Mason will be playing the 10-seed Michigan State (16-12) in the first round, a team just one year removed from a run to the Final Four. Regardless of their record, the Spartans are always dangerous in March.

Winning the CAA Tournament next week could propel the Patriots into a better seed, perhaps providing them with an easier opening round matchup. Even if they do falter in Richmond, however, it appears they have done enough to ensure an at-large bid in the Big Dance. It would be their sixth ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the first since 2008.