On the drive home yesterday I was formulating what I thought were the big keys to tonight's game, and more often than not, they always end up being the same factors that will help or haunt the Irish in any situation.  Defensive rebound, don't turn it over, make your open shots, etc.  Well, I got home and forgot that in my bevy of e-mails to George Mason partisans, Chris Metsala from the CAAZone was working on a "brief" Patriot preview for me.  That preview follows the tilde bang.

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George Mason Patriots (23-10)

Probable Starters:
G 6-1 Dre Smith
G 6-3 John Vaughan
G 6-4 Folarin Campbell
F 6-6 Louis Birdsong
F 6-7 Will Thomas

Off the Bench:
G 6-4 Cam Long
F 6-7 Chris Fleming
F 6-10 Vlad Moldoveanu
G 6-0 Jordan Carter

The Patriots have had a wild ride this season. From the highs of early season wins over Dayton, Kansas State and South Carolina, to the lows of losses to the likes of East Carolina and Georgia State, George Mason hasn't exactly been consistent.

They do however play well in "tournament-mode" historically, perhaps a residue of the magical run in the '06 Final Four. Mason has built off of that experience with a run to the CAA final in 2007, and again in 2008 earning the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Early this season, the trend continued with a solid performance in the Old Spice Classic - winning 2 of 3 games against BCS schools, with a close loss to Villanova.

Head Coach Jim Larranaga has built a legacy at George Mason University, located 20 miles outside of Washington, DC with a total enrollment of just over 30,000. The school is one of the fastest growing on the East Coast, and is quickly shedding its "commuter school" label. Mason's on-campus resident population now rivals those of Virginia and Virginia Tech.

The Patriots look to approach the match up with Notre Dame with one thing in mind... to use its speed to negate the Irish height-advantage on both ends of the court. Mason employs a smothering pass-denial defense that forces teams to settle for shots that might not be what they wanted. Spearheading the attack is guard John Vaughan, who is always assigned to the opponent's hot shooter. Coach Larranaga teaches his teams that good offense comes from playing great defense, and the team will focus on creating pressure and turnovers. The Patriots have kept their last three opponents in the CAA tournament to below 31% shooting from three-point range, and below 38% overall. This is a trend that must continue to give Mason a shot at upsetting Notre Dame.

Offensively, Folarin Campbell has emerged as the point guard, a position that he played in the Final Four run. He started off this season playing the power forward slot, but after a loss to East Carolina it became apparent that he was the best option. Campbell has lead the Patriots in scoring 11 out of the last 15 games, and when he's not the high scorer; it's most likely Will Thomas. Thomas is who the Mason offense runs through, and he regularly commands double and triple-teams in the low post. Despite the attention, he averages a double-double performance every game.

Mason will look to spread the floor and run - but in half-court situations, the first option will be Will Thomas who should touch the ball each trip down the hardwood. Campbell, John Vaughan and Dre Smith benefit from defenses collapsing on Will Thomas by trying to convert three-pointers and penetration to the basket. Will Thomas will have to work hard and demand the defense's awareness in order for the Patriot's offense to flow.

The headlining heavyweights look to be Will Thomas and Luke Harangody. The two somewhat undersized center/forwards shoulder the load for their respective teams, providing large contributions in points and rebounds. Clearly the team that can establish their inside presence first will have the upper hand. It's likely that both big men will be guarded by other players to limit the possibility of foul trouble. For Mason, that means a rotation of three forwards, 6-6 Louis Birdsong, 6-7 Chris Fleming and 6-10 Vlad Moldoveanu.

Will Thomas uses body position and footwork to corral entry passes, and usually works from the left block to the right. He's a lefty with a soft touch and is an expert at working under the basket as well as with his surgical left handed jump-hook. He has faired well against bigger players during his career, stacking up well against MSU's Paul Davis, UNC's Tyler Hansbrough, and UConn's Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone in the 2006 NCAA's.

Sure, Mason's Thomas has been down this road before, but with a partner. In the Final Four run, Thomas was the second option to 6-7 wide body Jai Lewis. This time around, Thomas will likely tandem with a rotating force of three forwards, 6-6 Louis Birdsong, 6-7 Chris Fleming, and 6-10 frosh Vlad Moldoveanu. Birdsong is more of a beefy and athletic small forward and averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds in the CAA tourney. Fleming has seen limited minutes this season, but surprised in the CAA tournament with three solid games, averaging 6 points a game. Moldoveanu is tall and long, but is prone to being pushed around. His pedigree is of a three-point sniper "Pittsnogle" type, but he has not shown that potential in his freshman year.

Mason's guards are deep and experienced. Campbell, Jordan Carter and John Vaughan were all on the Final Four team, but Vaughan was redshirting from a torn ACL and participated from the bench. Dre Smith is a direct result of the Final Four run, a Juco All-American from Houston, TX who committed while the Patriots made history. Smith is lightning quick and sometimes out of control, but when he's hot - look out. Smith set the NCAA record for most three-pointers in a game without a miss this season, going 10 for 10 against James Madison.

PG Jordan Carter was a starter earlier in the season, but has slipped out of the starting lineup in favor of Campbell at the point. Chances are he'll see time here and there, but won't be a prime contributor. It's likely that the main rotation of guards will be Campbell, Vaughan, Smith and freshman Cam Long, who is the aire-apparent to Folarin Campbell. Long is deceptively quick for his size, has a great court sense, and rebounds extremely well for a guard. He's posted double digits three times this season, and now comes off the bench to spell Campbell.

If you are to find a weakness on this Mason team, the Achilles heel might be the lack of adequate post help for Will Thomas. The Patriots are not very deep in frontcourt talent to support him, and those that are talented, are playing out of position to help him. If the perimeter offense falters, it makes it even tougher for Thomas to step up. Mason will hope for a balanced inside and outside game to help open up passing lanes, and will look to score quickly on transition whenever possible. While this team's guard play is strong and experienced, they have had times when they seem unable to penetrate and create quality looks for themselves. Overall, George Mason as a team has learned a lot and succeeded this season, and it will surely be a test to see if they can compete with one of the Big East's top teams.

I know what you're thinking.  "Hey, Chris, the last three posts on Rakes are all from people not you.  Are you outsourcing everything?"  Well, sort of, but I've written a preview, answered two sets of questions and given a take on why people should love this Irish team even if they hate Notre Dame over the last few days, so I'd consider it more of a trade-off situation where you get to read quality writing while George Mason fans get stuck with me.  Besides, why should I be spewing second-hand information on the Patriots when you can get it from the experts themselves?

Here's my question to you, Irish fans: Should Mike Brey double team Will Thomas, or just let him do all the damage he wants and stay at home?  On one hand, Thomas will most likely tear apart whoever is in single coverage on him, and if we double, the Patriots don't shoot a great percentage from three.  On the other hand, they're a bunch of seasoned guys playing in the Big Dance, so I think you can throw those numbers out the window and assume they will be knocking down shots.  I'm of the mindset that unless Thomas is literally scoring on every possession, just keep rotating defenders onto him - Kurz, Harangody, Zeller, hell, even Ty Nash to burn a few fouls - and hope he either gets fatigued or picks up a few dumb fouls and has to sit on the bench.  If he's as capable of a passer as everyone says he is, that factored into our slow recovery time upon collapsing will lead to bunches of open threes.  

After initially worrying about Larranaga's "scramble defense," I think it could really benefit the Irish if they keep their cool.  Harangody might be a difficult option to utilize down in the post with a bunch of six-foot demon flies swarming around him, but if the Patriots are scrambling, that means they'll assuredly find themselves out of position.  And if they're out of position, that should lead to open threes for the Irish, who have a bunch of people capable of knocking them down.  Granted, if the three's aren't falling, things get really desperate, but we just have to hope the percentages prove themselves true.

Otherwise, everything comes down to simple basketball: don't turn the ball over and don't give up offensive rebounds.  This is a small George Mason team, and there's no excuse for them getting double-digit offensive boards.  And with two guys in the backcourt who have played against strong, fast Big East guards all season, the pressure that's thrown out at them shouldn't be anything out of the ordinary.

There's been far too much written and discussed about this game over the last few days, so I'm glad it's finally getting played.  

Go Irish, Beat Patriots.

Is Justin Tuck afraid of the Patriots?  Definitely not.  And I don't think anyone wants to disappoint Tuck...