The Cameron Crazies and Izzone make up two of the top inhospitable environments in college basketball. From creative signs to yelling expletives at opposing players, the student section continues to play a significant role in college basketball games. Unlike the major conference schools such as Duke or Maryland, George Mason University fans tend to be more balanced in being rowdy and family friendly when it comes to game day. Yet, the Patriot Platoon make it rather difficult on opponents, especially when poor shooting and turnover-after-turnover do not help the cause.

Full House Est. 1985

The Patriot Center, Mason’s own landmark since 1985, opened its doors to many students and fans. The first ever sellout was on February 25, 1989 in a Colonial Athletic Conference showdown against the James Madison Dukes. At the time, the arena capacity filled 9,523 seats. Mason versus James Madison was always a popular game for fans to attend.

“With JMU students growing up in the Northern Virginia area and alumni living around here, there tends to be a number of fans supporting the visiting team at the Patriot Center as the two teams clash,” said senior Daniel Rivera Greenwood.

Over the years, games based on the locality factor shifted to games against quality opponents. As Mason added more seats in the Patriot Center, there was more attraction of fans to games that “mattered.”

“My favorite game so far was when we beat VCU at home last year. Everyone rushed the court and it just felt great beating our biggest rival,” said junior Matt Cerilli, “It is definitely much more exciting watching a home conference game especially when we come out on top, which is very common at home games.

Among a handful of Mason fans, Cerilli had not missed a home game yet as he hopes to keep the streak alive.

Coming off a Final Four appearance in 2006, 9,804 fans packed the Patriot Center to watch the Patriots fall short to the Wichita State Shockers.

“It was definitely what I had been looking forward to since I had arrived in the fall. Even though we lost that game, I was very impressed at how exciting the game was and how school spirited everyone was, and I definitely got chills when they released the Final Four banner before the game,” said Cerilli, referring to his first experience at a Mason home game as a student.

Also in the 2006-07 season, the Patriot Center sold out in a game against the Old Dominion Monarchs, who eventually earned an NCAA tournament in that year. Last season, 36 seats were added, and two more games made the number 1 slot for all-time Mason biggest crowds. Even though James Madison became a popular attraction again, it is apparent that the Dukes held a better record last season than that in 2007 before a showdown at the Patriot Center. The Dukes improved their 4-11 record coming into Mason in 2006 to 10-10 last season as the attendance shot up from 8,044 to 9,840 fans. That marked Mason’s only win when playing in front of a sellout crowd since 2001.

The other sellout game against the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks last season ended in a heartbreaking fashion as it appeared former player Will Thomas sunk the game-tying free throw to force overtime. Spoiling Mason’s homecoming, T.J. Carter, also a graduate in 2008, scored the game-winning layup as time expired to give the Seahawks their first win in Fairfax since 2001 and handed the Patriots their first and only home loss of the season.

Show Me the Numbers

As seen in Figure 1, the average attendance continued to shift rightward, and after the 2006 Final Four appearance, there was a significant increase per game.

At Mason, the Final Four stands out, but what goes unnoticed is the team’s dominance as a host. From a struggling 7-6 record in 2007 to 13-1 the next season, the Patriots in 2008 increased their point differential nearly 2.5 times the amount from the previous season. Mason increased their average scoring by four points as opponents’ scoring declined by four points per game. In the last two seasons, the Patriots won by at least 20 points nine times, their biggest coming in an 85-38 rout over the Drexel Dragons. Mason’s worst loss was a 20-point loss in their 2006 home opener against the Creighton Blue Jays.

There is a significant discrepancy between Mason and their opponents in field-goal percentage and turnovers committed. This is shown in Table 1.

Table 1
GMU OPP
FGPct. TO FGPct. TO
2007 0.461 143 0.394 165
2008 0.463 162 0.386 186
Total 0.462 305 0.39 351

In basketball, key components of scoring includes making shots (FG) and at the number of missed shots (FGM), and reducing turnovers (TO) to prevent from giving opponents ample opportunity to score. Table 2 (MASON) and Table 3 (OPP) show the components plus attendance (ATTEND) and how they factors into scoring for Mason and their opponents based on last season’s statistics.

Table 2
Predictor Coef SE Coef T P
Constant 8.31 13.59 0.61 0.560
ATTEND 0.0004006 0.0003835 1.04 0.331
MASON FG 2.165 0.2877 7.53 0.000
MASON FGM -0.3336 0.1292 -2.58 0.036
MASON FT 1.2224 0.2533 4.83 0.002
MASON FTM -0.1485 0.2587 -0.57 0.584
MASON TO -0.1625 0.2597 -0.63 0.551

MASON Score = 8.3 + 0.000401 ATTEND + 2.17 MASON FG - 0.334 MASON FGM + 1.22 MASON FT - 0.149 MASON FTM - 0.162 MASON TO

Table 3
Predictor Coef SE Coef T P
Constant 16.6 15.18 1.09 0.310
ATTEND -0.0000644 0.0003751 -0.17 0.869
OPP FG 2.143 0.3479 6.16 0.000
OPP FGM -0.2548 0.172 -1.48 0.182
OPP FT 1.0142 0.2907 3.49 0.010
OPP FTM -0.118 0.4489 -0.26 0.800
OPP TO -0.3318 0.2992 -1.11 0.304

OPP Score = 16.6 - 0.000064 ATTEND + 2.14 OPP FG - 0.255 OPP FGM + 1.01 OPP FT - 0.118 OPP FTM - 0.332 OPP TO

Data from the 2007 season is added to last season’s statistics in Table 4 (MASON) and Table 5 (OPP). The regression takes into account of both seasons.

Table 4
Predictor Coef SE Coef T P
Constant 10.935 6.422 1.70 0.104
ATTEND 0.0001344 0.000213 0.63 0.535
MASON FG 2.137 0.1266 16.88 0.000
MASON FGM -0.25292 0.0847 -2.99 0.007
MASON FT 1.05028 0.08906 11.79 0.000
MASON FTM -0.243 0.1447 -1.68 0.109
MASON TO -0.1068 0.137 -0.78 0.445

MASON Score = 10.9 + 0.000134 ATTEND + 2.14 MASON FG - 0.253 MASON FGM + 1.05 MASON FT - 0.243 MASON FTM - 0.107 MASON TO

Table 5
Predictor Coef SE Coef T P
Constant 14.398 6.824 2.11 0.048
ATTEND 0.0000099 0.0002164 0.05 0.964
OPP FG 2.133 0.1647 12.95 0.000
OPP FGM -0.17395 0.08868 -1.96 0.064
OPP FT 0.9487 0.113 8.40 0.000
OPP FTM -0.1006 0.1921 -0.52 0.606
OPP TO -0.3351 0.1553 -2.16 0.043

OPP Score = 14.4 + 0.000010 ATTEND + 2.13 OPP FG - 0.174 OPP FGM + 0.949 OPP FT - 0.101 OPP FTM - 0.335 OPP TO

For Mason, there was greater sensitivity in the attendance coefficient last season than in 2007 when combining the two. As seen in Table 4 and Table 5, attendance still works in Mason’s favor.

The Great Decade

There seems to be a significant win-loss record in home court dominance in the last ten seasons. From 1998-2008, the Cameron Crazies and their faithful Duke Blue Devils won 141 games with only 13 losses at home. The Michigan State Spartans did even better with 146 wins out of 156 total with four zero-loss seasons. From a CAA standpoint where there is no one team clearly above the rest, Mason tends to be home-dominant with a 109-21 record.

The Patriot Center, now in its 23rd year, continues to be a strong venue for basketball fans where history is preserved. Former Maryland great Len Bias’ record for free throw attempts by an opponent as of this day has been unhampered with.