Previewing The CAA Tournament: Will George Mason Keep Winning?

After claiming the Colonial Athletic Association title for the first time since then, the Patriots should be the ones to beat when the CAA Tournament gets underway this weekend.

The Patriots may still be far off from the Final Four, but this year's squad is already drawing comparisons to the 2006 giant killers. The 2010-11 Patriots actually posted a better regular season conference record than the 2006 team at 16-2.

"They're also heading into the conference tournament riding a 15-game winning streak, the longest active streak of any team entering the postseason," said Mark Presley, hoops analyst at OddsShark.com.

After such a successful regular season it shouldn't come as a shock that the Patriots are the oddsmakers' tournament favorite at +120 on most college basketball odds menus today. George Mason hasn't lost since January 8, and they've been hammering teams during their run with all but four games double-digit victories.

With a balanced attack that includes four players averaging at least 10 points per game the Patriots boasted the top offense in the conference, averaging 73.9 points per game this season.

One reason the Patriots were so hard to beat this season is because they shoot so well. From their top four scorers the worst percentage is still 43.1%, owned by Andre Cornelius. He's no slouch though, and has been red-hot from three-point range down the stretch.

Forward Ryan Pearson shot 52.6% this season, while leading scorer Cam Long netted 48.3% of his shots. If George Mason continues to shoot so well in this tourney they could be impossible to beat.

If anyone is going to topple the Patriots it will most likely be the Old Dominion Monarchs. They finished second in the CAA this season and they're also second on the BetUS.com tournament odds list at +175.

Old Dominion has won their last seven games and their only loss in their last 11 games came at the hands of the Patriots. The key to the Monarchs' success or failure in the tournament will likely come down to forward Frank Hassell.

He nearly averaged a double-double this season with 14.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game, but in the Monarchs' six losses this season he averaged only 10.8 points and 7.5 rebounds.

For a full rundown of the rest of the tournament contenders, their odds and full matchup reports and previews of every game, check out OddsShark.com.