2006 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

2006 NCAA Division I
Men's Basketball Tournament
Season	2005–06
Teams	65
Finals site	RCA Dome; Indianapolis, Indiana
Champions	Florida Gators (1st title, 2nd title game,; 3rd Final Four)
Runner-up	UCLA Bruins (13th title game,; 16th Final Four)
Semifinalists	George Mason Patriots (1st Final Four); LSU Tigers (4th Final Four);
Winning coach	Billy Donovan (1st title)
MOP	Joakim Noah (Florida)
Attendance	70,254
Top scorers	Glen Davis LSU; Joakim Noah Florida; (97 points)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments
«2005	2007»

The 2006 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament involved 65 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball as a culmination of the 2005–06 basketball season. It began on March 14, 2006, and concluded on April 3 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.

None of the Tournament's top seeds advanced to the Final Four, the first time since 1980 that this occurred. For the second time in history, a team seeded 11th advanced to the Final Four as George Mason of the Colonial Athletic Association won the Washington, D.C. region. They were joined by Atlanta region winner LSU (who was the first team to advance to the Final Four as an 11-seed in 1986), Oakland region winner UCLA, who had not made the Final Four since they won the National Championship in 1995, and Minneapolis region winner Florida, who had not made the Final Four since their runner-up finish in 2000 also in Indianapolis.

Florida won its first-ever national basketball championship by defeating UCLA 73–57 in the final game. Florida's Joakim Noah was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament.

George Mason's run was one of several upsets by lower-seeded teams in the tournament. For the second consecutive year, a No. 14 seed beat a No. 3 seed as Northwestern State defeated Iowa. No. 13 seed Bradley also defeated No. 4 seed Kansas and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen by defeating No. 5-seeded Pittsburgh in the Second Round. Two No. 12 seeds won as well, as Montana and Texas A&M both won their respective First Round matchups. For the second straight year, Milwaukee won as a double-digit seed, this time as the No. 11-seeded Panthers defeated Oklahoma in the first round.

Tournament procedure[]

A total of 65 teams were selected to participate in the tournament. Of that total, 31 of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. Penn earned an automatic bid by winning the regular-season title of the Ivy League, which did not conduct a conference tournament. The remaining 34 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee.

The initial game on March 14 officially named the , but popularly called the "play-in game", had Monmouth, winner of the Northeast Conference Tournament, facing Hampton, who won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament, for a chance to play top seed Villanova in the First Round of the Tournament. Monmouth defeated Hampton, 71–49, to advance to play Villanova.

All teams were seeded from 1 to 16 within their regions. The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65. In a practice used since 2004, the ranking of the four top seeds against each other would determine the pairings in the Final Four. The top overall seed would be seeded to play the fourth overall seed in the national semifinals, should both teams advance that far. In 2006, these rankings were as follows: No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Connecticut, No. 3 Villanova, and No. 4 Memphis.^[1]

Schedule and venues[]

San Diego

Salt Lake City

Dallas

Auburn Hills

Dayton

Jacksonville

Greensboro

Philadelphia

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2006 first and second rounds (note: the play-in game was held in Dayton, Ohio)

Oakland

Minneapolis

Atlanta

Washington, D.C.

Indianapolis

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2006 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 2006 tournament:

Opening Round

March 14
- University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

First and Second Rounds

March 16 and 18
- Cox Arena, San Diego, California (Host: San Diego State University)
- Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference)
- Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida (Host: Jacksonville University)
- Jon M. Huntsman Center, Salt Lake City, Utah (Host: University of Utah)
March 17 and 19
- American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas (Host: Big 12 Conference)
- The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan (Host: Oakland University)
- University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)
- Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Host: Atlantic 10 Conference)

Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

March 23 and 25
- Atlanta Regional, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology)
- Oakland Regional, Oakland Arena, Oakland, California (Host: University of San Francisco)
March 24 and 26
- Minneapolis Regional, Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)
- Washington, D.C. Regional, Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University)

National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)

April 1 and 3
- RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana (Host: Butler University and Horizon League)

This was the fourth and final time the RCA Dome would host the Final Four before moving to Lucas Oil Stadium. For the first time, the tournament came to Jacksonville, Florida, playing games at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. This marked the sixth city and fifth metropolitan area in the state of Florida to host games. The 2006 tournament also marked the final tournament games held at the Huntsman Center and Oakland (now Oracle) Arena. Tournament games have moved to downtown Salt Lake City and the Vivint Smart Home Arena since, to take advantage of more amenities there as opposed to the campus of the University of Utah. As for Oakland, there are currently no games scheduled in the near future, with 2022 scheduled to host games at the new Chase Center in downtown San Francisco. As the Golden State Warriors will also be moving to the Chase Center once it opens, it is unclear what will happen to the Oracle Arena once their primary tenant moves out.

Qualifying teams[]

Atlanta Regional
Seed	School	Conference	Coach	Record	Berth Type
No. 1	Duke	ACC	Mike Krzyzewski	30–3	Tournament Champion
No. 2	Texas	Big 12	Rick Barnes	27–6	At-Large Bid
No. 3	Iowa	Big Ten	Steve Alford	25–8	Tournament Champion
No. 4	LSU	SEC	John Brady	23–8	At-Large Bid
No. 5	Syracuse	Big East	Jim Boeheim	23–11	Tournament Champion
No. 6	West Virginia	Big East	John Beilein	20–10	At-Large Bid
No. 7	California	Pac-10	Ben Braun	20–10	At-Large Bid
No. 8	George Washington	Atlantic 10	Karl Hobbs	26–2	At-Large Bid
No. 9	UNC Wilmington	CAA	Brad Brownell	25–7	Tournament Champion
No. 10	NC State	ACC	Herb Sendek	21–9	At-Large Bid
No. 11	Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	Chris Lowery	22–10	Tournament Champion
No. 12	Texas A&M	Big 12	Billy Gillispie	21–8	At-Large Bid
No. 13	Iona	MAAC	Jeff Ruland	23–7	Tournament Champion
No. 14	Northwestern State	Southland	Mike McConathy	25–7	Tournament Champion
No. 15	Pennsylvania	Ivy	Fran Dunphy	20–8	Regular Season Champion
No. 16	Southern	SWAC	Rob Spivery	19–12	Tournament Champion

Oakland Regional
Seed	School	Conference	Coach	Record	Berth Type
No. 1	Memphis	C-USA	John Calipari	30–3	Tournament Champion
No. 2	UCLA	Pac-10	Ben Howland	27–6	Tournament Champion
No. 3	Gonzaga	WCC	Mark Few	27–3	Tournament Champion
No. 4	Kansas	Big 12	Bill Self	25–7	Tournament Champion
No. 5	Pittsburgh	Big East	Jamie Dixon	24–7	At-Large Bid
No. 6	Indiana	Big Ten	Mike Davis	18–11	At-Large Bid
No. 7	Marquette	Big East	Tom Crean	20–10	At-Large Bid
No. 8	Arkansas	SEC	Stan Heath	22–9	At-Large Bid
No. 9	Bucknell	Patriot	Pat Flannery	26–4	Tournament Champion
No. 10	Alabama	SEC	Mark Gottfried	17–12	At-Large Bid
No. 11	San Diego State	Mountain West	Steve Fisher	24–8	Tournament Champion
No. 12	Kent State	Mid-American	Jim Christian	25–8	Tournament Champion
No. 13	Bradley	Missouri Valley	Jim Les	20–10	At-Large Bid
No. 14	Xavier	Atlantic 10	Sean Miller	21–10	Tournament Champion
No. 15	Belmont	Atlantic Sun	Rick Byrd	20–10	Tournament Champion
No. 16	Oral Roberts	Mid-Continent	Scott Sutton	21–11	Tournament Champion

Washington, D.C. Regional
Seed	School	Conference	Coach	Record	Berth Type
No. 1	Connecticut	Big East	Jim Calhoun	27–3	At-Large Bid
No. 2	Tennessee	SEC	Bruce Pearl	21–7	At-Large Bid
No. 3	North Carolina	ACC	Roy Williams	22-7	At-Large Bid
No. 4	Illinois	Big Ten	Bruce Weber	25–6	At-Large Bid
No. 5	Washington	Pac-10	Lorenzo Romar	24–6	At-Large Bid
No. 6	Michigan State	Big Ten	Tom Izzo	22–11	At-Large Bid
No. 7	Wichita State	Missouri Valley	Mark Turgeon	24–8	At-Large Bid
No. 8	Kentucky	SEC	Tubby Smith	21–12	At-Large Bid
No. 9	UAB	C-USA	Mike Anderson	24–6	At-Large Bid
No. 10	Seton Hall	Big East	Louis Orr	18–11	At-Large Bid
No. 11	George Mason	CAA	Jim Larranaga	25–7	At-Large Bid
No. 12	Utah State	WAC	Stew Morrill	23–8	At-Large Bid
No. 13	Air Force	Mountain West	Jeff Bzdelik	24–6	At-Large Bid
No. 14	Murray State	Ohio Valley	Mick Cronin	24–6	Tournament Champion
No. 15	Winthrop	Big South	Gregg Marshall	23–7	Tournament Champion
No. 16	Albany	America East	Will Brown	21–10	Tournament Champion

Minneapolis Regional
Seed	School	Conference	Coach	Record	Berth Type
No. 1	Villanova	Big East	Jay Wright	25–4	At-Large Bid
No. 2	Ohio State	Big Ten	Thad Matta	25–5	At-Large Bid
No. 3	Florida	SEC	Billy Donovan	27–6	Tournament Champion
No. 4	Boston College	ACC	Al Skinner	26–7	At-Large Bid
No. 5	Nevada	WAC	Mark Fox	27–5	Tournament Champion
No. 6	Oklahoma	Big 12	Kelvin Sampson	20–8	At-Large Bid
No. 7	Georgetown	Big East	John Thompson III	21–9	At-Large Bid
No. 8	Arizona	Pac-10	Lute Olson	19–12	At-Large Bid
No. 9	Wisconsin	Big Ten	Bo Ryan	19–11	At-Large Bid
No. 10	Northern Iowa	Missouri Valley	Greg McDermott	23–9	At-Large Bid
No. 11	UW-Milwaukee	Horizon	Rob Jeter	21–8	Tournament Champion
No. 12	Montana	Big Sky	Larry Krystkowiak	23–6	Tournament Champion
No. 13	Pacific	Big West	Bob Thomason	24–7	Tournament Champion
No. 14	South Alabama	Sun Belt	John Pelphrey	24–6	Tournament Champion
No. 15	Davidson	Southern	Bob McKillop	18–10	Tournament Champion
No. 16*	Monmouth	Northeast	Dave Calloway	18–14	Tournament Champion
No. 16*	Hampton	MEAC	Bobby Collins	16–15	Tournament Champion

*Opening Round participants

Bids by conference[]

Bids by Conference
Bids	Conference(s)
8	Big East
6	SEC, Big Ten
4	ACC, Big 12, Pac-10, Missouri Valley
2	Atlantic 10, CAA, C-USA, Mountain West, WAC
1	19 others

Bracket[]

(*) – Number of asterisks denotes number of overtimes.

Opening Round game – Dayton, Ohio[]

Winner advances to Minneapolis Regional vs. No. 1 Villanova.

Play-In Game March 13

16	Monmouth	71

16	Hampton	49

Atlanta Regional[]

First round			Second round			Semi-finals			Finals

1	Duke	70

16	Southern	54
			1	Duke	74
Greensboro
			8	George Washington	61
8	George Washington	88*

9	UNC-Wilmington	85
						1	Duke	54

						4	LSU	62
5	Syracuse	58

12	Texas A&M	66
			12	Texas A&M	57
Jacksonville
			4	LSU	58
4	LSU	80

13	Iona	64
									4	LSU	70*

									2	Texas	60
6	West Virginia	64

11	Southern Illinois	46
			6	West Virginia	67
Auburn Hills
			14	Northwestern State	54
3	Iowa	63

14	Northwestern State	64
						6	West Virginia	71

						2	Texas	74
7	California	52

10	North Carolina State	58
			10	North Carolina State	54
Dallas
			2	Texas	75
2	Texas	60

15	Pennsylvania	52

Oakland Regional[]

First round			Second round			Semi-finals			Finals

1	Memphis	94

16	Oral Roberts	78
			1	Memphis	72
Dallas
			9	Bucknell	56
8	Arkansas	55

9	Bucknell	59
						1	Memphis	80

						13	Bradley	64
5	Pittsburgh	79

12	Kent State	64
			5	Pittsburgh	66
Auburn Hills
			13	Bradley	72
4	Kansas	73

13	Bradley	77
									1	Memphis	45

									2	UCLA	50
6	Indiana	87

11	San Diego State	83
			6	Indiana	80
Salt Lake City
			3	Gonzaga	90
3	Gonzaga	79

14	Xavier	75
						3	Gonzaga	71

						2	UCLA	73
7	Marquette	85

10	Alabama	90
			10	Alabama	59
San Diego
			2	UCLA	62
2	UCLA	78

15	Belmont	44

Minneapolis Regional[]

First round			Second round			Semi-finals			Finals

1	Villanova	58

16	Monmouth	45
			1	Villanova	82
Philadelphia
			8	Arizona	78
8	Arizona	94

9	Wisconsin	75
						1	Villanova	60*

						4	Boston College	59
5	Nevada	79

12	Montana	87
			12	Montana	56
Salt Lake City
			4	Boston College	69
4	Boston College	88**

13	Pacific	76
									1	Villanova	62

									3	Florida	75
6	Oklahoma	74

11	UW–Milwaukee	82
			11	UW–Milwaukee	60
Jacksonville
			3	Florida	82
3	Florida	76

14	South Alabama	50
						3	Florida	57

						7	Georgetown	53
7	Georgetown	54

10	Northern Iowa	49
			7	Georgetown	70
Dayton
			2	Ohio State	52
2	Ohio State	70

15	Davidson	62

Washington, D.C. Regional[]

First round			Second round			Semi-finals			Finals

1	Connecticut	72

16	Albany	59
			1	Connecticut	87
Philadelphia
			8	Kentucky	83
8	Kentucky	69

9	UAB	64
						1	Connecticut	98*

						5	Washington	92
5	Washington	75

12	Utah State	61
			5	Washington	67
San Diego
			4	Illinois	64
4	Illinois	78

13	Air Force	69
									1	Connecticut	84

									11	George Mason	86*
6	Michigan State	65

11	George Mason	75
			11	George Mason	65
Dayton
			3	North Carolina	60
3	North Carolina	69

14	Murray State	65
						11	George Mason	63

						7	Wichita State	55
7	Wichita State	86

10	Seton Hall	66
			7	Wichita State	80
Greensboro
			2	Tennessee	73
2	Tennessee	63

15	Winthrop	61

Final Four – Indianapolis, Indiana[]

RCA Dome during the Final Four

National Semifinals			National Championship Game

AT4	LSU	45

OA2	UCLA	59
			OA2	UCLA	57

			MI3	Florida	73
MI3	Florida	73

WA11	George Mason	58

Record by conference[]

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	R32	S16	E8	F4	CG
Big East	8	11–8	.579	5	4	2	–	–
SEC	6	13–5	.722	5	2	2	2	1
Big Ten	6	3–6	.333	3	–	–	–	–
ACC	4	6–4	.600	4	2	–	–	–
Big 12	4	4–4	.500	2	1	1	–	–
Pac-10	4	8–4	.667	3	2	1	1	1
Missouri Valley	4	4–4	.500	2	2	–	–	–
Atlantic 10	2	1–2	.333	1	0–	–	–	–
CAA	2	4–2	.667	1	1	1	1	0–
C–USA	2	3–2	.600	1	1	1	0–	–
MWC	2	0–2	.000	0–	–	–	–	–
WAC	2	0–2	.000	0–	0–	–	–	–
Southland Conference	1	1–1	.500	1	0–	–	–	–
WCC	1	2–1	.667	1	1	–	–	–
Patriot League	1	1–1	.500	1	0–	–	–	–
Horizon League	1	1–1	.500	1	0–	–	–	–
Big Sky Conference	1	1–1	.500	1	0–	–	–	–
Northeast Conference	1	1–1*	.500	–	–	–	–	–

*Monmouth University won the Opening Round game.

The America East, Atlantic Sun, Big South, Big West, Ivy, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, Ohio Valley, SoCon, SWAC, Mid-Continent, and Sun Belt conferences all went 0–1.

The columns R32, S16, E8, F4, and CG respectively stand for the Round of 32, Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight, Final Four, and Championship Game.

Announcers[]

Jim Nantz and Billy Packer – First & Second Round at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Minneapolis Regional at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome; Final Four at Indianapolis, Indiana
Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas – First & Second Round at San Diego, California; Atlanta Regional at the Georgia Dome
Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery – First & Second Round at Auburn Hills, Michigan; Washington, D.C. Regional at the Verizon Center
Gus Johnson and Len Elmore – First & Second Round at Dayton, Ohio; Oakland Regional at the Oakland Arena
Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Greensboro, North Carolina
Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel – First & Second Round at Salt Lake City, Utah
Craig Bolerjack and Bob Wenzel – First & Second Round at Dallas, Texas
Tim Brando, Stephen Bardo, and Mike Gminski – First & Second Round at Jacksonville, Florida

Greg Gumbel once again served as the studio host, joined by analysts Clark Kellogg and Seth Davis.

Notes[]

The futures of two of this year's Final Four teams would be polar opposites of the other two in 2007. Both George Mason and LSU would fail to receive a bid to either the NCAA Tournament or the NIT, while both Florida and UCLA would return to the Final Four (the two teams would have a rematch, this time in the semifinals, with the same result, a Florida victory).
George Mason became the first team from a "mid-major" conference to reach the Final Four since UNLV's loss to Duke in 1991.
This was the second of three Final Fours to feature no No. 1 seeds (1980 and 2011 being the others).
Duke was the last team before Florida to win back-to-back titles, and like Florida, they won their first of the two in Indianapolis at the RCA Dome.

References[]

^ UConn, 'Nova No. 1 seeds

[1] UConn, 'Nova No. 1 seeds

[1]

v t NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
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Media & culture	Bracketology Broadcasting Tournament Final Four March Madness pools "One Shining Moment"
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v t 2006 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournaments
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