Econ 101, Hey! George Mason in the Final Four

Free-marketeers of the world must be pinching themselves this morning: 11th seeded George Mason University is in the Final Four, defeating top-seeded Connecticut in overtime after easily handling Wichita State on Friday.

How I wish I would have bet based on my post last Monday:

To get to the Final Four, the Patriots will have to beat another cinderella team, Wichita State, and then either Washington or national Number 1 UConn. Very tough, but after what they did in their two games this weekend, you don’t want to bet against them.

Anyone who claims that they had The Patriots in their Final Four bracket from the start is either a GMU grad or seriously fibbing.

Congrat to the Pats. It’s Florida Friday, and if victorious, the winner of UCLA-LSU. That does not look impossible.
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UPDATE: This is funny (though probably not to this summer’s students) — An applause statement to the GMU men’s basketball team from last Friday combined with a tuition increase announcement:

On the eve of the George Mason men’s basketball team’s next game in the 2006 NCAA tournament, the university’s Board of Visitors (BOV) offered its best congratulations and wishes to Coach Jim Larranaga in the form of a “Resolution of Appreciation.”

….. In other action, the BOV approved a hike in tuition and fees for the upcoming summer school semester. The changes are as follows: 7.9 percent increase for in-state and out-of-state undergraduate and graduate students; 10.3 percent increase for in-state law students; and 4.1 percent increase for out-of-state law students.

Definitely not compassionate capitalism.