Jeff Haney recounts an earlier game between Sweet 16 opponents with a Vegas handicapper

Friday, March 24, 2006 | 7:17 a.m.

George Mason and Wichita State, who meet today in an unlikely Sweet 16 clash in the NCAA basketball tournament, played each other last month during the made-for-TV "bracket buster weekend."

"You maybe could have foreseen a rematch five weeks later - in the NIT," said Las Vegas sports handicapper Patrick Bartucci, who is picking George Mason to win again today and cover the two-point spread.

"If you saw the (first) game, it was evident that GMU's three-guard lineup was the difference," Bartucci said. "The Patriots were a step ahead of the Shockers on the perimeter. Intelligent and patient execution led GMU to 52 percent shooting from the field."

Bartucci, online at patricksfreepress.com, is also predicting Connecticut will have no trouble covering the spread today as a favorite against Washington.

In today's other games, he thinks the finals in Villanova-Boston College and Florida-Georgetown will land too close to the point spread to call. Florida is favored by three points; Villanova by 2 1/2.

George Mason, a No. 11 seed, defeated Michigan State as a five-point underdog and got past North Carolina as a six-point underdog to advance in the tournament.

More significant to Bartucci was the fact GMU has played a remarkably disciplined brand of basketball, allowing just nine free throws in those two games.

"Carolina visited the free-throw line four times the entire game," Bartucci said. "The script was written for an upset from that stat. GMU never lost its cool. The Patriots' strategy was to keep it close for 35 minutes, and doing this enabled them to steal the game."

GMU figures to be helped by a virtual home-court advantage as the game is in Washington, D.C. Bartucci has the Patriots winning 61-56, which would put the game under the total of 124 points posted in Las Vegas sports books.

Bartucci also likes No. 1 seed UConn to cruise past Washington as a 6-point favorite. He gives UConn an edge in team depth, speed and height - as well as intangibles.

"The upset loss to N.C. State last year still bothers them," Bartucci said. "They are tired of reading about the flat effort against Albany and about the lack of killer instinct against Kentucky (earlier in the tournament). Losing early in the Big East tournament two weeks ago may have helped them. They got to rest, they still got a No. 1 seed, and they charted out a plan for six wins in a row."

Bartucci projects an 88-73 final, which would put the game over the total of 155.

Although officials with the State Department are saying it won't happen, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made it onto the list of candidates to replace Paul Tagliabue as NFL commissioner compiled by oddsmakers at Pinnacle Sports, based in Curacao and online at pinnaclesports.com.

Rice is a 100-1 long shot to replace Tagliabue, who has announced his pending retirement after 16 years heading the NFL.

In 2002, Rice told The New York Times that NFL commissioner would be her dream job.

"I actually think football, with all due respect to baseball, is a kind of national pastime that brings people together across social lines, across racial lines," Rice told the Times. "And I think it's an important American institution."

Among Rice's duties in her former position as provost at Stanford University was overseeing the university's athletic budget and hiring the football coach, according to the Times report.

NFL Chief Operating Officer Roger Goodell is a heavy favorite to succeed Tagliabue at odds of 1-2, according to Pinnacle.

Atlanta Falcons President and General Manager Rich McKay, co-chairman of the NFL competition committee, is the second choice at 3-1 odds.

Others on the betting board at Pinnacle are Baltimore Ravens President Dick Cass (5-1), NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Pash (10-1) and TV executives Steve Bornstein and Sean McManus (each 20-1).

Long shots besides Rice include team owners Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder (each 100-1); former coach and longtime broadcaster John Madden (200-1); broadcaster Al Michaels (200-1); former President Bill Clinton (200-1); agent Drew Rosenhaus (200-1); and former quarterbacks John Elway and Dan Marino (each 200-1).

Rival sports book Betus.com is also taking action on the prop, listing Rice at 300-1, Clinton at 40-1 and Goodell a 1-3 favorite, among other choices.

Betting on the next NFL commissioner is not permitted in Nevada because of state regulations that stipulate wagering must be on the outcome of a sporting event.