George Mason’s pregame speech had a slight flaw

George Mason coach Jim Larranaga is known for being a motivator.

Some of the words he said during Mason's run to the Final Four in 2006, including telling his team during a timeout against Connecticut in the Elite Eight that UConn players didn't even know which conference the Patriots played in.

Before Friday's second-round game against Villanova, in an attempt to rekindle that 2006 magic, Larranaga reached into his motivational speaking bag of tricks and made a slight gaffe.

"It's not about the name on the back, it's about the name on the front, George Mason!" Larranaga yelled to his team to open the speech.

That's a great clich�, except that George Mason is one of the few teams in this year's NCAA tournament that doesn't have names on the back of its jerseys and it hasn't�in quite some time. Of course, it's just a figure of speech, but it's unfortunate that the one clich� Larranaga decided to use was the one that his team couldn't quite relate to.

Still, it was a good motivational speech and while it took some time for the words to take, the Patriots did rally for a 61-57 win.

Padma Lakshmi Sarah Mutch Gabrielle Union Alessandra Ambrosio Amanda Detmer