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 The RCA Dome (originally Hoosier Dome) was a domed stadium in Indianapolis. It was the home of the Indianapolis Colts NFL franchise for 24 seasons (1984– 2007). It was completed at a cost of $77.5 million, as part of the Indiana Convention Ce ...

in Indianapolis, Indiana. None of the Tournament's top seeds advanced to the Final Four, the first time since

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

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 The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the NCAA's Division I whose full members are located in East Coast states from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Most of its members are public universi ...

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

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), Oakland region winner UCLA, who had not made the Final Four since they won the National Championship in

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, and Minneapolis region winner Florida, who had not made the Final Four since their runner-up finish in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

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 The term Most Outstanding Player may refer to: * The recipient of the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award * The NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award * The College World Series Most Outstanding Player in college baseball * The N ...

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 Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

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 A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

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

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, 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 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, 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.UConn, 'Nova No. 1 seeds
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Schedule and venues

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 Viejas Arena (formerly Cox Arena) is the home stadium of the San Diego State Aztecs men's and women's basketball teams. It is located on the San Diego State University (SDSU) campus in San Diego, California. Viejas Arena opened in July 1997 a ...

, San Diego, California (Host: San Diego State University) ** Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host:

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

) ** Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, Florida (Host: Jacksonville University) **

Jon M. Huntsman Center The Jon M. Huntsman Center is a 15,000-seat indoor arena in the western United States, on the campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. It is the home of the Utah Utes of the Pac-12 Conference, the primary venue for Utah Utes men's b ...

, 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 Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 21,412 at the 2010 census. Before incorporating as a city in 1983, the area was part of the now-defunct Pontiac Township. It is home to Oakland University ...

(Host:

Oakland University Oakland University is a public research university in Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, Michigan. Founded in 1957 through a donation of Matilda Dodge Wilson, it was initially known as Michigan State University-Oakland, operating under the Mi ...

) ** University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton) ** Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Host:

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern ...

) Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) *March 23 and 25 **Atlanta Regional, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia (Host:

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

) **Oakland Regional, Oakland Arena, Oakland, California (Host: University of San Francisco) *March 24 and 26 **Minneapolis Regional,

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League' ...

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

(Host: University of Minnesota) **Washington, D.C. Regional,

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, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University) National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) *April 1 and 3 **

, Indianapolis, Indiana (Host: Butler University and Horizon League)

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).

Listed by region and seeding

Bids by conference

Bracket

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

Opening Round game – Dayton, Ohio

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

Atlanta Regional

Oakland Regional

Minneapolis Regional

Washington, D.C. Regional

Final Four – Indianapolis, Indiana

Record by conference

* Monmouth University won the Opening Round game. The

America East The America East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I founded in 1979, whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference has nine core members including eight public research u ...

, Atlantic Sun, Big South, Big West, Ivy, MAAC, MAC,

MEAC The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose full members are historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southeastern and the Mid-Atlantic United States. It participates in the National C ...

, Ohio Valley, SoCon, SWAC,

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, and

Sun Belt The Sun Belt is a region of the United States generally considered to stretch across the Southeast and Southwest. Another rough definition of the region is the area south of the 36th parallel. Several climates can be found in the region — des ...

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 Stephen Dean Bardo (born April 5, 1968) is an American retired professional basketball player who played 3 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is currently a college basketball analyst. Basketball career During his standout c ...

, 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

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. * This was the second of three Final Fours to feature no No. 1 seeds (

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

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

{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Ncaa

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams from ...

NCAA NCAA