As of Today, Everyone Has a 1-in-65 Chance

Three weeks from now in San Antonio, in a cavernous, 65,000-seat dome, the Final Four will be played amid corporate dollars, transparent NBA auditions and people who can afford to consume the most gluttonous weekend of college basketball.

Today is not about that; today is about inclusion.

It is about bleachers in small, on-campus arenas, which house teams such as the one hard off Massachusetts Avenue in Spring Valley.

It is about kids and coaches at places such as American University -- seeded 15th in its first-ever NCAA tournament -- who sincerely believe they can knock off a Southeastern Conference power such as Tennessee on Friday in Birmingham, Ala.

For the next five days, the Eagles have the same status as top seeds North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA and Memphis. Like the game's elite, they technically are one of 65 teams with a chance. It doesn't matter that their run likely will end in spectacular fashion before the weekend, for today AU is in.

Today, the University of Maryland-Baltimore County is eligible to compete for the national title; the University of Maryland-College Park is not.

Today is about George Mason, which spun Fairfax and much of the country on its fingertips in 2006, arriving at the Final Four in Indianapolis like Gene Hackman and the hayseeds from Hickory arrived there in the 1950s.

If "Hoosiers" went the reality route, it could not have done better than Jim Larranaga's believers two years ago. While becoming an instant staple on Selection Sunday -- "Who's this year's George Mason?" -- they dismissed the long-held belief that none of the small-school teams genuinely had a chance.

Today is about the 12th-seeded Patriots, who play No. 5 Notre Dame in the first round on Thursday. Only until then do they get to be Rudy.

Today is about the Patriot League, whose champion waited 41 years after it became a Division I program to earn its first tournament bid.

"I had practically given up hope that AU would ever make it," said Josh Rosenfeld, who as AU's team manager in the early 1970s used to shag rebounds for Wilbur Thomas and Kermit Washington.

Rosenfeld worked as the school's sports information director during Gary Williams's first two years as coach. He went on to become the director of public relations for the Lakers during Magic Johnson's championship years and the Knicks during the Patrick Ewing era.