Now, of course, we must compare the CAA schools’ runs and decide which is more improbable and impressive.

It depends.

The case for George Mason, an 11th seed, starts with history. When the Patriots reached the Final Four in 2006, no double-digit mid-major had advanced that far. George Mason established a path for others.

“Ourselves and probably about 50 other programs in the country thought, ‘That could have been us,’?” Hofstra coach Tom Pecora told the Washington Times in 2006.

For VCU, the surprise of a mid-major making it to the Final Four is off. Heck, the Rams are facing eighth-seeded Butler, a mid-major that lost in the finals a year ago. The point has been made: A good veteran team from any conference can dream of a deep run in the one-and-done era.

Another point for George Mason: The Patriots eliminated Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut. Oh, yeah, the Patriots’ leading scorer, Tony Skinn, was suspended for that first game, too. By the way, those three programs — coached by legends — had each won a title within the previous six years.

VCU has not ousted such an impressive group aside from Kansas — whose recent history includes embarrassing tournament defeats to mid-majors.

But …

Nobody in this tournament has been more impressive than the Rams, who also had to win a play-in game. Excuse me, a first-round game. The Rams also have defeated a team from the Pac-10 (USC), Big East (Georgetown), Big Ten (Purdue), ACC (Florida State) and now the Big 12 (Kansas).

Their average margin of victory — 12 points. They’ve won four of those games by a combined 59 points.

George Mason was more improbable; VCU might be more impressive. Why? It might have a different ending.

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