2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Information & 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament Links at HealthHaven.com

2006 NCAA Men's Division I; Basketball Tournament
	; 2006 Final Four logo
Season	2005–06
Teams	65
Finals Site	RCA Dome; Indianapolis, Indiana
Champions	Florida (1st title)
Runner-Up	UCLA (13th title game)
Semifinalists	George Mason (1st Final Four); LSU (4th Final Four)
Winning Coach	Billy Donovan (1st title)
MOP	Joakim Noah Florida
Attendance	670,254
Top scorers	Glen Davis LSU; Joakim Noah Florida; (97 points)
«2005	2007»

The 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 65 schools 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 University of Florida winning its first-ever national title over UCLA 73-57 on April 3 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. Florida's Joakim Noah was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament. The 2006 tournament was notable for George Mason University, an 11th-seed, defeating four consecutive higher seeds, including 1st-seeded Connecticut in a thrilling overtime regional final, to reach the Final Four, only the second time in tournament history that an 11th seed achieved this feat.

[edit] Tournament procedure

For more details on this topic, see NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship#Tournament format.

A total of 65 teams were selected to participate in the tournament. 31 of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. Pennsylvania earned an automatic bid by winning the regular-season title of the Ivy League, which does 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, popularly called the "play-in game," had Monmouth, winner of the Northeast Conference tournament, facing Hampton, who won the automatic bid from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship, for a chance to play top seed Villanova in the first round of the tournament. Monmouth defeated Hampton, 71–49, to earn that right.

All 64 teams were seeded from 1 to 16 within their regionals; the winner of the play-in game automatically received a 16 seed. The Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 65. In a practice 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: #1 Duke, #2 Connecticut, #3 Villanova, and #4 Memphis. [1]

The four regionals were officially named after the four host cities, a practice which also began in 2004. However, in 2007, the NCAA returned to naming regionals by their geographic location. The 2006 regionals were:

March 23 / 25:

South Regional, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology)

West Regional, Oakland Arena, Oakland, California (Host: University of San Francisco)

March 24 / 26:

Midwest Regional, Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota)

East Regional, Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University)

The first and second round games were played at the following sites:

March 16 / 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 / 19:

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas (Host: Big 12 Conference)

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)

Each regional winner advanced to the Final Four, held on April 1 and 3 in Indianapolis, hosted by Butler University and the Horizon League.

[edit] Qualifying teams

South Regional
Seed	School	Conference	Coach	Record	Berth Type
#1	Duke	ACC	Mike Krzyzewski	30-3	Tournament Champion
#2	Texas	Big 12	Rick Barnes	27-6	At-Large Bid
#3	Iowa	Big Ten	Steve Alford	25-8	Tournament Champion
#4	LSU	SEC	John Brady	23-8	At-Large Bid
#5	Syracuse	Big East	Jim Boeheim	23-11	Tournament Champion
#6	West Virginia	Big East	John Beilein	20-10	At-Large Bid
#7	California	Pac-10	Ben Braun	20-10	At-Large Bid
#8	George Washington	Atlantic 10	Karl Hobbs	26-2	At-Large Bid
#9	UNC-Wilmington	CAA	Brad Brownell	25-7	Tournament Champion
#10	North Carolina State	ACC	Herb Sendek	21-9	At-Large Bid
#11	Southern Illinois	Missouri Valley	Chris Lowery	22-10	Tournament Champion
#12	Texas A&M	Big 12	Billy Gillespie	21-8	At-Large Bid
#13	Iona	MAAC	Jeff Ruland	23-7	Tournament Champion
#14	Northwestern State	Southland	Mike McConathy	25-7	Tournament Champion
#15	Pennsylvania	Ivy	Fran Dunphy	20-8	Regular Season Champion
#16	Southern	SWAC	Rob Spivery	19-12	Tournament Champion

West Regional
Seed	School	Conference	Coach	Record	Berth Type
#1	Memphis	C-USA	John Calipari	30-3	Tournament Champion
#2	UCLA	Pac-10	Ben Howland	27-6	Tournament Champion
#3	Gonzaga	WCC	Mark Few	27-3	Tournament Champion
#4	Kansas	Big 12	Bill Self	25-7	Tournament Champion
#5	Pittsburgh	Big East	Jamie Dixon	24-7	At-Large Bid
#6	Indiana	Big Ten	Mike Davis	18-11	At-Large Bid
#7	Marquette	Big East	Tom Crean	20-10	At-Large Bid
#8	Arkansas	SEC	Stan Heath	22-9	At-Large Bid
#9	Bucknell	Patriot	Pat Flannery	26-4	Tournament Champion
#10	Alabama	SEC	Mark Gottfried	17-12	At-Large Bid
#11	San Diego State	Mountain West	Steve Fisher	24-8	Tournament Champion
#12	Kent State	Mid-American	Jim Christian	25-8	Tournament Champion
#13	Bradley	Missouri Valley	Jim Les	20-10	At-Large Bid
#14	Xavier	Atlantic 10	Sean Miller	21-10	Tournament Champion
#15	Belmont	Atlantic Sun	Rick Byrd	20-10	Tournament Champion
#16	Oral Roberts	Mid-Continent	Scott Sutton	21-11	Tournament Champion

East Regional
Seed	School	Conference	Coach	Record	Berth Type
#1	Connecticut	Big East	Jim Calhoun	27-3	At-Large Bid
#2	Tennessee	SEC	Bruce Pearl	21-7	At-Large Bid
#3	North Carolina	ACC	Roy Williams	23-8	At-Large Bid
#4	Illinois	Big Ten	Bruce Weber	25-6	At-Large Bid
#5	Washington	Pac-10	Lorenzo Romar	24-6	At-Large Bid
#6	Michigan State	Big Ten	Tom Izzo	22-11	At-Large Bid
#7	Wichita State	Missouri Valley	Mark Turgeon	24-8	At-Large Bid
#8	Kentucky	SEC	Tubby Smith	21-12	At-Large Bid
#9	UAB	C-USA	Mike Anderson	24-6	At-Large Bid
#10	Seton Hall	Big East	Louis Orr	18-11	At-Large Bid
#11	George Mason	CAA	Jim Larranaga	25-7	At-Large Bid
#12	Utah State	WAC	Stew Morrill	23-8	At-Large Bid
#13	Air Force	Mountain West	Jeff Bzdelik	24-6	At-Large Bid
#14	Murray State	Ohio Valley	Mick Cronin	24-6	Tournament Champion
#15	Winthrop	Big South	Gregg Marshall	23-7	Tournament Champion
#16	Albany	America East	Will Brown	21-10	Tournament Champion

Midwest Regional
Seed	School	Conference	Coach	Record	Berth Type
#1	Villanova	Big East	Jay Wright	25-4	At-Large Bid
#2	Ohio State	Big Ten	Thad Matta	25-5	At-Large Bid
#3	Florida	SEC	Billy Donovan	27-6	Tournament Champion
#4	Boston College	ACC	Al Skinner	26-7	At-Large Bid
#5	Nevada	WAC	Mark Fox	27-5	Tournament Champion
#6	Oklahoma	Big 12	Kelvin Sampson	20-8	At-Large Bid
#7	Georgetown	Big East	John Thompson III	21-9	At-Large Bid
#8	Arizona	Pac-10	Lute Olson	19-12	At-Large Bid
#9	Wisconsin	Big Ten	Bo Ryan	19-11	At-Large Bid
#10	Northern Iowa	Missouri Valley	Greg McDermott	23-9	At-Large Bid
#11	UW–Milwaukee	Horizon	Rob Jeter	21-8	Tournament Champion
#12	Montana	Big Sky	Larry Krystkowiak	23-6	Tournament Champion
#13	Pacific	Big West	Bob Thomason	24-7	Tournament Champion
#14	South Alabama	Sun Belt	John Pelphrey	24-6	Tournament Champion
#15	Davidson	Southern	Bob McKillop	18-10	Tournament Champion
Play-in Winner	Monmouth	Northeast	Dave Calloway	18-14	Tournament Champion
Play-in Loser	Hampton	MEAC	Bobby Collins	16-15	Tournament Champion

[edit] 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

[edit] Brackets

[edit] South Regional (Atlanta, GA)

(*)-Denotes an Overtime Game

First round			Second round			Semifinals			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

[edit] West Regional (Oakland, CA)

First round			Second round			Semifinals			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

[edit] Midwest Regional (Minneapolis, MN)

First round			Second round			Semifinals			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

[edit] East Regional (Washington, DC)

First round			Second round			Semifinals			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

[edit] Final Four (Indianapolis, IN)

National Semifinals			National Championship Game

S4	LSU	45
W2	UCLA	59
			W2	UCLA	57
			M3	Florida	73
E11	George Mason	58
M3	Florida	73

[edit] Announcers

Jim Nantz and Billy Packer - 1st/2nd rounds at Philadelphia, Minneapolis Regionals, Final Four
Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas - 1st/2nd rounds at San Diego, Atlanta Regionals
Gus Johnson and Len Elmore - 1st/2nd rounds at Dayton, Oakland Regionals
Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery - 1st/2nd rounds at Auburn Hills, Washington D.C. Regionals
Craig Bolerjack and Bob Wenzel - 1st/2nd rounds at Dallas
Tim Brando and Mike Gminski - 1st/2nd rounds at Jacksonville
Ian Eagle and Jim Spanarkel - 1st/2nd rounds at Salt Lake City
Kevin Harlan and Dan Bonner - 1st/2nd rounds at Greensboro

[edit] 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 results, a Florida victory).

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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