WASHINGTON — George Mason's players stood on the press table, waving their jerseys to the crowd. Coach Jim Larranaga walked around with the nylon net around his neck.

It won't be the same old schools from the same old conferences at this year's Final Four — certainly not top-seeded Connecticut.

Buoyed by a partisan crowd at the Verizon Center and playing some 20 miles from their campus, 11th-seeded George Mason overcame huge disadvantages in size, athleticism and history yesterday to stun the Huskies, 86-84, in overtime, ending a stranglehold that big-time programs have enjoyed for 27 years in college basketball's biggest showcase.

Improbable as it may seem, the powers-that-be are going to have to make room for a suburban commuter school from Fairfax, Va., that was a dicey choice to make the NCAA tournament as an at-large team.

"I was kidding with one of my assistants," Larranaga said, "We're not just an at-large team, we're an at-extra-large. And if we win today, we're going to be an at-extra-double-large. I can't tell you how much fun I'm having."

The Patriots overcame their deficiencies with heart and tenacity. They were never rattled, even when they trailed by 12 late in the first half and nine early in the second. They hit six straight 3-pointers in the second half, shot 5 for 6 in overtime and outrebounded UConn, 37-34, even though the Huskies have three starters taller than any of the Patriots' frontcourt players.

The Patriots (27-7) are only the second double-digit seed to make the Final Four, matching LSU's run, also as an 11th seed, in 1986. They are the first true outsider to crash the quartet since Penn and Indiana State both got there in 1979.

George Mason competes in the Colonial Athletic Association, a league that has never had a team get this far before.

George Mason next plays No. 3 seed Florida in Saturday's semifinals in Indianapolis. This marks the first time since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985 that no top-seeded team advanced to the Final Four, and the second time in tournament history.

The Patriots' at-large selection was roundly criticized by many, including CBS commentator Billy Packer. George Mason's fans chanted Packer's name in the postgame celebration.

"I think it's been working for us, calling us Cinderella," guard Tony Skinn said. "We were not supposed to get into the tournament, we got into it. We were not supposed to beat Michigan State and we beat them. Weren't supposed to beat North Carolina and we beat them. We definitely weren't supposed to be UConn."

All five Mason starters finished in double figures. Jai Lewis had 20, and Lamar Butler and Will Thomas each scored 19. Larranaga's team kept the same five players in the game from the 10:37 mark of regulation to the very end of overtime. Butler was chosen as the most outstanding player of the regional, and he and his father were in tears as they hugged at length on the court after the game.

"I feel so good, through my own sadness, for Jim Larranaga," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "Playing at that level is not easy. I can only imagine the feeling they must have on that campus, in that locker room. ... It's something they probably never imagined."

George Mason, having by far the best season in school history, had never won an NCAA tournament game until it beat half of last year's Final Four — Michigan State and No. 3 seed North Carolina — back-to-back in the first two rounds. Now it can say it has beaten the last two national champions — Connecticut and North Carolina.

Rudy Gay scored 20, and Jeff Adrien had a career-high 17 points for Connecticut (30-4).

"They played tough and have a lot of heart," Gay said of George Mason. "That's all that really matters when you play a game like this."

Folarin Campbell's tough baseline fadeaway gave the Patriots an 84-80 lead in overtime, and UConn suddenly looked like a rattled underdog from a mid-major. Rashad Anderson tossed up an airball 3-point attempt that could have cut the lead to one, and Adrien missed one of two free throws in the final 30 seconds.

But Mason gave UConn a chance to win with poor free-throw shooting. Lewis missed three attempts in the final 15 seconds — the last two with 6.1 seconds to go — giving the Huskies a final possession to tie or win. Denham Brown, who made the reverse layup at the regulation buzzer to send the game to overtime, was off the mark from the left wing with a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

UConn led 43-31 in the first half, and held a 43-34 advantage at intermission.

The Patriots rallied to take a 52-51 lead on Butler's 3-pointer with 11:09 left in the second half.

For the next six minutes, the teams punched and counterpunched, with neither leading by more than two until Skinn's 3-pointer with five minutes to go put Mason ahead 67-63. Marcus Williams' steal and three-point play cut Mason's lead to 71-70 with 47 seconds remaining, and the Patriots went 2 of 5 from the foul line in the final minute to give UConn the chance to send the game to overtime on Brown's buzzer-beating layup.