George Mason was one of the lowest seeded teams ever to make the Final Four. (As a No. 11 seed, they tie with Louisiana State University’s 1986 team and this year’s Virginia Commonwealth University team.) Although they didn’t go on to win — they lost to eventual champions University of Florida — they beat four other higher-seeded teams to make it as far as they did. The team’s success sparked talk of expanding the men’s tournament by essentially doubling the number of teams to 128. The idea won support from schools in large conferences like the Big East and the Atlantic Coast, who wanted to see more of their teams make it to March Madness. The change was not approved.
