 George Mason's Cinderella story ended in Indianapolis, when the eventual National Champion Florida Gators defeated them 73–58 on April 1, 2006.Despite their loss, many sports analysts considered their performance in the 2006 tourney to be the best run by a mid-major in tournament history.In the final rankings of 2005–2006 season, the USA Today/ESPN poll ranked the Patriots eighth in the nation—their highest rank to date.