NASHVILLE, March 16 -- If the NCAA tournament were a concert, George Washington would be classified as a warmup act.
That's the vibe as the 12th-seeded Colonials prepare to face fifth-seeded Georgia Tech on Friday night in a first-round game at Gaylord Entertainment Center. The night's other matchup pits fourth-seeded Louisville against 13th-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette, so a lot of folks, particularly those with Georgia and Kentucky license plates, are eagerly anticipating a second-round meeting between the Yellow Jackets and Cardinals.
That certainly would have all the makings of a classic matchup: two traditionally strong programs, Georgia Tech's up-and-coming coaching wizard Paul Hewitt vs. future Hall of Famer Rick Pitino, Georgia Tech's playmaking Jarrett Jack vs. Louisville's mad bomber Francisco Garcia.
Either team, some believe, could make a run to the Final Four.
There's just one problem. Georgia Tech and Louisville have to get past Friday first and, in the case of the Yellow Jackets, history suggests that some serious concentration wouldn't be a bad thing.
Since 1985, a No. 12 seed has knocked off a No. 5 seed 26 times. It has happened at least once in 15 of the last 16 tournaments, including last year, when Pacific beat Providence in Kansas City, Mo.
One explanation might be that the 12th seeds often sense a lack of respect and channel those feelings into their play.
"We're going into the tournament with everyone looking past us. We know that," George Washington sophomore guard Carl Elliott said. "People are already talking about how great a second-round game [Georgia Tech-Louisville] would be, but that's okay. I think it's a good thing to be the underdog. We're going into the tournament loose, thinking about some upsets."
Elliott and his teammates haven't found themselves in this position since early December when they were preparing for the BB&T Classic at MCI Center. Even though the tournament was a short ride from Foggy Bottom, the buzz was all about a potential second-round matchup between Michigan State and Maryland, then ranked 11th and 12th, respectively.
"It was supposed to be a tournament preview," said George Washington junior forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu. "Like we weren't even there."
The Colonials flipped the script by beating Michigan State, 96-83, in the first round and Maryland, 101-92, for the tournament championship. That was the last time the Colonials were viewed as anything but a favorite all season.
Even when George Washington wore the blue jerseys against top-seeded Saint Joseph's in the Atlantic 10 championship game Saturday, the expectations and pressure were squarely on the Colonials.
Not now, according to George Washington Coach Karl Hobbs, who had to bite his tongue when the selection committee stuck his team with a 12th seed Sunday.
"I like the fact that we are the underdog and the pressure is on them," Hobbs said. "That's the way I would want it. They went to the championship game last year. They're coming in as the hot team with all the expectations. I know what Coach [Paul] Hewitt is going through. I've been there."
Hobbs spent eight seasons as an assistant at Connecticut, where he was a part of teams that made it to the regional semifinals four times, the regional final three times and the NCAA championship game once. In 1999, the Huskies won it all.
Georgia Tech returned its core group from a team that lost in the NCAA championship game and has played with the weight of high expectations all season.
"I'm sure a first-round loss is unacceptable for them," said Mensah-Bonsu, "but it's unacceptable for us, also. We're not just happy to be here and now it's okay for us to go out and lose. We want to win and keep playing. That's how we're approaching it."
The Colonials express respect for Georgia Tech -- Hobbs only has to pop in game tape to illustrate why the Yellow Jackets are capable of a deep tournament run -- but they have no fear.
"One thing I don't have to do is instill confidence in this basketball team," Hobbs said. "This team already believes it can win, so that's not an issue. I told them last night, 'Everybody has already written your obit so let's just go out and play basketball.' We don't have to worry about anything else."
