Sell out crowd awaits Dukes

The GMU-JMU "rivalry" is one that I could never really understand while I was a student at Mason. Why are we rivals? Because we are both located in Virginia and named after dead guys? Most would consider ODU or VCU to be better suited as our official rivals because let's face it, the games are more fun to watch. But the GMU-JMU rivalry brings us back to the days when both schools were playing at the Division II level searching for identity and funding to one day be a Division I participant. This rivalry apparently means a lot to the alumni for both schools as this Saturday's afternoon delight is already sold out. Northern VA is home to many alumni for both universities so it comes to no surprise that this game never lacks good attendance. This year James Madison boasts of it's most talented lineups ever to come to the Patriot Center, but are coming into Saturday losers of 5 straight. After some early season success in their out of conference schedule the Dukes have hit a rut and their lack of experience might be catching up to them. Not to say this game doesn't have the potential to be a close one because it always does when these guys come to town and I'd be saying the same thing even if they were 0-20. Mason has the huge homecourt advantage though, which we saw them feed off late in the game against VCU on Tuesday. If we see similar fan support, this game could get ugly for James Madison.