Mason hoops receives national attention

The CAA competition has simply watched as Mike Morrison and the Patriots fly by, working their way into the national spotlight and into the top-25 in the RPI. (John Powell)

In the midst of their 10-game winning streak in which they climbed to the top of the CAA standings, the Patriots (20-5, 12-2) have repeatedly received the national spotlight and were even dubbed the nation’s best mid-major basketball program.

There are six so-called BCS conferences, the ACC, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Pacific 10 and SEC. Any conference outside of these six is considered a mid-major. There are 27 mid-major conferences across the country.

On Feb. 5, the week in which the Patriots took down conference rivals Hofstra and ODU, Matt Giles of ESPN.com deemed them the best mid-major team this season. According to Giles, the St. Mary’s loss in the West Coast Conference opened the door for the Patriots to claim the top spot.

Joe Lunardi, ESPN’s “Bracketology” expert, has already begun releasing his predictions for the upcoming March Madness bracket. On his latest bracket, updated Feb. 7, he has the Patriots in the tournament as an at-large team sitting in the West region as a 10-seed, and playing seventh-seeded Temple in the first round.

The top-25 national rankings are released every Monday. Although the Patriots did not find their way on the list for the rankings revealed Feb. 7, they did receive 19 votes in the AP Poll and 13 votes in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.

In the RPI rankings (Ratings Percentage Index), which are computer-generated based on strength of schedule and wins and often dictate a team’s chances to reach the NCAA Tournament, the Patriots are currently ranked 23rd in the country, according to cbssports.com.

The Patriots knocked off conference foe UNC Wilmington on the road Tuesday night, 78-63, thanks to sharp-shooting by junior guard Andre Cornelius. He registered a season-high 25 points on an astounding 7-10 performance from beyond the arc.

Junior Ryan Pearson came up just one rebound shy of his third consecutive double-double, scoring 13 points to go along with nine boards.

Andy Katz, a college basketball analyst for ESPN, announced on Feb. 7 that Ryan Pearson was his national player of the week for his performances against Hofstra and ODU. Against Hofstra, Pearson recorded 19 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. He followed that effort with 18 points and 11 rebounds against ODU.

Pearson is not the only player to have received national publicity, however. Senior guard Cam Long was nominated for college basketball’s player of the week against UConn’s Kemba Walker and BYU’s nation-leading scorer, Jimmer Fredette, on ESPN.com following his 30-point game in the two-point win against JMU Jan. 22.

The Patriots host JMU Sat., Feb. 12, at 5 p.m. The Patriots are 12-0 at home this season, 7-0 in the CAA.

They return to the road next week, playing at VCU Feb. 15 and at Northern Iowa Feb. 19 in an ESPN BracketBuster contest. Both games will be given primetime air on ESPN networks. The VCU game airs at 7 p.m. on ESPNU and the UNI game, which is of one the featured BracketBusters, airs at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.