AP Photo/Potomac News, Ana Pimsler

George Mason's Sammy Hernandez raises his jersey in celebration of the team's 65-60, win over North Carolina during the NCAA men's basketball tournament March 19 in Dayton, Ohio.

Holy schnikes, the George Mason University Patriots are in the Sweet Sixteen!

This may come as a surprise to many of you. If you don’t know already, GMU is a Virginia state school located up in Fairfax, near Washington, D.C. Mason is actually the largest public four-year institution in the commonwealth, known for its diverse student body and law school (among other things).

But the team’s good fortune is especially a surprise to me, an actual Mason alumna (class of 1999). GMU is considered a commuter school with little to no school spirit. We don’t have a football team, which essentially erases us from the radar of most folks down here. As a whole, we’re not passionate enough to slap school bumper stickers on our cars (myself included).

But here we are, part of the big NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

Sunday’s win against the University of North Carolina Tar Heels (the defending national champion) finally got my attention.

I’m not exactly a real sports fan — our sports editor smirked when I couldn’t name the best player on the team. (And I Googled it, Jeff. I’m gonna guess Lamar Butler.) So I’ll be the first to admit I’m a fair-weather fan, but I’m definitely feeling some school pride.

Are there any other GMU alumni or fans out in Timesland? If so, and y’all want to form an impromptu watch party at an area sports bar, shoot me an e-mail or give me a call (981-3352). We’ll try to post any information on roanoke.com before the big game on Friday night against Wichita State University.

And just to be fair, if there are other fans from different teams who want to make connections among yourselves, please contact me ASAP.

— Stephanie Ogilvie