2006 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament
Season2005–06
Teams65
Finals siteRCA Dome
Indianapolis, Indiana
ChampionsFlorida Gators (1st title, 2nd title game,
3rd Final Four)
Runner-upUCLA Bruins (13th title game,
16th Final Four)
Semifinalists
Winning coachBilly Donovan (1st title)
MOPJoakim Noah (Florida)
Attendance70,254
Top scorersGlen 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 with the championship game on April 3 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Final Four featured no top seeds for the first time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 (the first time since 1980), with the highest remaining seed being Oakland region winner, #2 UCLA, making their first Final Four appearance since their 1995 national championship. For only the second time in history, an 11-seed advanced to the Final Four as George Mason of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) won the Washington, D.C. region. Those two teams were joined by Atlanta region winner LSU (who was the first team to advance to the Final Four as an 11-seed in 1986), 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.

American East Conference champion Albany and ASUN champion Belmont made their first appearance in the tournament.

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 opening round game, 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

2006 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament is located in the United States
San Diego
San Diego
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City
Dallas
Dallas
Auburn Hills
Auburn Hills
Dayton
Dayton
Jacksonville
Jacksonville
Greensboro
Greensboro
Philadelphia
Philadelphia
2006 play-in game (orange) and first and second rounds (green)
2006 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament is located in the United States
Oakland
Oakland
Minneapolis
Minneapolis
Atlanta
Atlanta
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Indianapolis
Indianapolis
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

First and Second Rounds

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

Qualifying teams

Automatic bids

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2006 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).

Conference School Appearance Last bid
ACC Duke 30th 2005
America East Albany 1st Never
Atlantic 10 Xavier 17th 2004
Atlantic Sun Belmont 1st Never
Big 12 Kansas 35th 2005
Big East Syracuse 31st 2005
Big Sky Montana 7th 2005
Big South Winthrop 6th 2005
Big Ten Iowa 22nd 2005
Big West Pacific 8th 2005
Colonial UNC Wilmington 4th 2003
C-USA Memphis 19th 2004
Horizon UW-Milwaukee 3rd 2005
Ivy League Penn 22nd 2005
MAAC Iona 8th 2001
MAC Kent State 4th 2002
MEAC Hampton 3rd 2002
Mid-Con Oral Roberts 3rd 1984
Missouri Valley Southern Illinois 9th 2005
Mountain West San Diego State 5th 2002
Northeast Monmouth 4th 2004
Ohio Valley Murray State 13th 2004
Pac-10 UCLA 40th 2005
Patriot Bucknell 4th 2005
SEC Florida 12th 2005
Southern Davidson 8th 2002
Southland Northwestern State 2nd 2001
Sun Belt South Alabama 7th 1998
SWAC Southern 7th 1993
WAC Nevada 5th 2005
West Coast Gonzaga 9th 2005

Listed by region and seeding

Atlanta Regional
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type
#1 Duke ACC 30–3 Automatic
#2 Texas Big 12 27–6 At-large
#3 Iowa Big Ten 25–8 Automatic
#4 LSU SEC 23–8 At-large
#5 Syracuse Big East 23–11 Automatic
#6 West Virginia Big East 20–10 At-large
#7 California Pac-10 20–10 At-large
#8 George Washington Atlantic 10 26–2 At-large
#9 UNC Wilmington CAA 25–7 Automatic
#10 NC State ACC 21–9 At-large
#11 Southern Illinois Missouri Valley 22–10 Automatic
#12 Texas A&M Big 12 21–8 At-large
#13 Iona MAAC 23–7 Automatic
#14 Northwestern State Southland 25–7 Automatic
#15 Pennsylvania Ivy 20–8 Automatic
#16 Southern SWAC 19–12 Automatic
Oakland Regional
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type
#1 Memphis C-USA 30–3 Automatic
#2 UCLA Pac-10 27–6 Automatic
#3 Gonzaga WCC 27–3 Automatic
#4 Kansas Big 12 25–7 Automatic
#5 Pittsburgh Big East 24–7 At-large
#6 Indiana Big Ten 18–11 At-large
#7 Marquette Big East 20–10 At-large
#8 Arkansas SEC 22–9 At-large
#9 Bucknell Patriot 26–4 Automatic
#10 Alabama SEC 17–12 At-large
#11 San Diego State Mountain West 24–8 Automatic
#12 Kent State MAC 25–8 Automatic
#13 Bradley Missouri Valley 20–10 At-large
#14 Xavier Atlantic 10 21–10 Automatic
#15 Belmont Atlantic Sun 20–10 Automatic
#16 Oral Roberts Mid-Continent 21–11 Automatic
Washington, D.C. Regional
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type
#1 Connecticut Big East 27–3 At-large
#2 Tennessee SEC 21–7 At-large
#3 North Carolina ACC 22–7 At-large
#4 Illinois Big Ten 25–6 At-large
#5 Washington Pac-10 24–6 At-large
#6 Michigan State Big Ten 22–11 At-large
#7 Wichita State Missouri Valley 24–8 At-large
#8 Kentucky SEC 21–12 At-large
#9 UAB C-USA 24–6 At-large
#10 Seton Hall Big East 18–11 At-large
#11 George Mason CAA 25–7 At-large
#12 Utah State WAC 23–8 At-large
#13 Air Force Mountain West 24–6 At-large
#14 Murray State Ohio Valley 24–6 Automatic
#15 Winthrop Big South 23–7 Automatic
#16 Albany America East 21–10 Automatic
Minneapolis Regional
Seed School Conference Record Berth Type
#1 Villanova Big East 25–4 At-large
#2 Ohio State Big Ten 25–5 At-large
#3 Florida SEC 27–6 Automatic
#4 Boston College ACC 26–7 At-large
#5 Nevada WAC 27–5 Automatic
#6 Oklahoma Big 12 20–8 At-large
#7 Georgetown Big East 21–9 At-large
#8 Arizona Pac-10 19–12 At-large
#9 Wisconsin Big Ten 19–11 At-large
#10 Northern Iowa Missouri Valley 23–9 At-large
#11 UW-Milwaukee Horizon 21–8 Automatic
#12 Montana Big Sky 23–6 Automatic
#13 Pacific Big West 24–7 Automatic
#14 South Alabama Sun Belt 24–6 Automatic
#15 Davidson Southern 18–10 Automatic
#16 Monmouth Northeast 18–14 Automatic
Hampton MEAC 16–15 Automatic

Bids by conference

Bids Conference(s) Schools
8 Big East Connecticut, Georgetown, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia
6 Big Ten Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin
SEC Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee
4 ACC Boston College, Duke, NC State, North Carolina
Big 12 Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M
Missouri Valley Bradley, Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Wichita State
Pac-10 Arizona, California, UCLA, Washington
2 Atlantic 10 George Washington, Xavier
CAA George Mason, UNC Wilmington
C-USA Memphis, UAB
Mountain West Air Force, San Diego State
WAC Nevada, Utah State
119 other conferences

Bracket

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

Opening Round game – Dayton, Ohio

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

Opening Round
March 13
   
16 Monmouth 71
16 Hampton 49

Atlanta Regional

First round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
1 Duke 70
16 Southern 54
1 Duke 74
Greensboro - Thu/Sat
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 - Thu/Sat
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 - Fri/Sun
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 - Fri/Sun
2 Texas 75
2 Texas 60
15 Pennsylvania 52

Oakland Regional

First round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
1 Memphis 94
16 Oral Roberts 78
1 Memphis 72
Dallas - Fri/Sun
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 - Fri/Sun
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 - Thu/Sat
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 - Thu/Sat
2 UCLA 62
2 UCLA 78
15 Belmont 44

Minneapolis Regional

First round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
1 Villanova 58
16 Monmouth 45
1 Villanova 82
Philadelphia - Fri/Sun
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 - Thu/Sat
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 - Thu/Sat
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 - Fri/Sun
2 Ohio State 52
2 Ohio State 70
15 Davidson 62

Washington, D.C. Regional

First round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
            
1 Connecticut 72
16 Albany 59
1 Connecticut 87
Philadelphia - Fri/Sun
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 - Thu/Sat
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 - Fri/Sun
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 - Thu/Sat
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 – – – –
CAA 2 4–2 .667 1 1 1 1 –
C–USA 2 3–2 .600 1 1 1 – –
MWC 2 0–2 .000 – – – – –
WAC 2 0–2 .000 – – – – –
Southland Conference 1 1–1 .500 1 – – – –
WCC 1 2–1 .667 1 1 – – –
Patriot League 1 1–1 .500 1 – – – –
Horizon League 1 1–1 .500 1 – – – –
Big Sky Conference 1 1–1 .500 1 – – – –
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

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

See also

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

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