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2006 Men's NCAA Basketball Tournament

75 Years of March Madness (NCAA)

2006 NCAA Tournament | Bracket

Champion: Florida

Most Outstanding Player: Joakim Noah , Florida

Final Four:Florida, UCLA, LSU, George Mason

Shining Moments

  • George Mason puts on a transcendent performance, becoming the first mid-major to reach the Final Four in the modern era. The term “George Mason” becomes synonymous with “mid-major-team-who-everyone-will-love-and-could-win-many-games-in-March.” The Patriots’ path to Indy is all the better for the names of the teams they defeat: Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut. GMU was a bubble team to begin with -- and UConn was considered the best team in the field by many. Not only did the Patriots hold off the Huskies, they did so in overtime, fending off a team filled with pros (five would be drafted three months later) who had momentum. But playing in Washington, D.C. -- close to GMU’s campus -- only helped when it came to crowd suppor
    • t.
  • Florida wins the first title in program history thanks to an under-recruited but surprisingly powerful core group of players: Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer, Al Horford, Taurean Green and Lee Humphrey. Noah sets a title-game record with six swats in addition to a 16 and nine performance to get him the MOP.
  • Cool carryover: 2006 was the year Gerry McNamara went absolutely bonkers at the Big East tournament. Alas, he shined bright and burned out fast. SU goes from barely a bubble team to a five seed … then falls to Texas A&M in the first round.
  • One of the most underrated buzzer-beaters ever comes in the 14-over-3 upset that is Northwestern State against Iowa. Jermaine Wallace sinks a deep 3 from the corner, falling away, with one second to go to pull off the 64-63 upset.
  • No. 13 Bradley beats Kansas in the first round, then tops No. 5 Pittsburgh to reach the Sweet 16. It’s the first appearance that deep into the bracket for the Braves in 51 years.
  • UCLA beats Memphis 50-45 in the ugliest, lowest-scoring regional final in the shot-clock era.
- Matt Norlander

Championship Game

Location: Indianapolis
1 2 T
Florida363773
UCLA253257
 

Florida (73)
STARTERSMFG3FGFTORTRATOSTLBLKPFPTS
C. Brewer, G/F374-122-31-3374231311
L. Humphrey, G364-84-83-3012000115
T. Green, G361-90-70-104811012
J. Noah, F/C337-90-02-2293216216
A. Horford, F245-80-04-5273102214
BENCHMFG3FGFTORTRATOSTLBLKPFPTS
C. Richard, F122-30-02-200000136
W. Hodge, G120-30-10-001102010
A. Moss, F103-60-03-426000009
Totals 26-586-1915-209352167101373
 44.8%31.6%75.0% 
 
UCLA (57)
STARTERSMFG3FGFTORTRATOSTLBLKPFPTS
J. Farmar, G348-211-81-2024220218
L. Mbah a Moute, F323-90-20-0310100046
A. Afflalo, G323-102-72-2021310210
R. Hollins, C264-100-02-25100101210
C. Bozeman, G252-30-05-603320029
BENCHMFG3FGFTORTRATOSTLBLKPFPTS
D. Collison, G210-30-00-013130030
A. Aboya, F/C141-10-00-223100022
L. Mata, C91-40-00-025010032
M. Roll, G/F70-00-00-000000020
Totals 22-613-1710-1413381112312257
 36.1%17.6%71.4% 

All-Tournament Team

PlayerPos.Yr.School
*Joakim NoahF-CSo.Florida
Corey BrewerG-FSo.Florida
Taurean GreenGSo.Florida
Lee HumphreyGJr.Florida
Jordan FarmarGSo.UCLA
*Named Most Outstanding Player.
  • Scoring Leader: Joakim Noah, Florida (97 points, 6 games, 16.2 ppg), Glen Davis (97 points, 5 games, 19.4 ppg).
    		•

    2006 Tournament Scores

    OPENING ROUND
    Minneapolis
    Monmouth, N.J. 71, Hampton 49

    FIRST ROUND
    Washington, D.C.
    No. 1 Connecticut 72, No. 16 Albany, N.Y. 59
    No. 8 Kentucky 69, No. 9 UAB 64
    No. 5 Washington 75, No. 12 Utah State 61
    No. 4 Illinois 78, No. 13 Air Force 69
    No. 11 George Mason 75, No. 6 Michigan State 65
    No. 3 North Carolina 69, No. 14 Murray State 65
    No. 7 Wichita State 86, No. 10 Seton Hall 66
    No. 2 Tennessee 63, No. 15 Winthrop 61

    Minneapolis
    No. 1 Villanova 58, No. 16 Monmouth, N.J. 45
    No. 8 Arizona 94, No. 9 Wisconsin 75
    No. 12 Montana 87, No. 5 Nevada 79
    No. 4 Boston College 88, No. 13 Pacific 76, 2OT
    No. 11 Wisconsin-Milwaukee 82, No. 6 Oklahoma 74
    No. 3 Florida 76, No. 14 South Alabama 50
    No. 7 Georgetown 54, No. 10 Northern Iowa 49
    No. 2 Ohio State 70, No. 15 Davidson 62

    Atlanta
    No. 1 Duke 70, No. 16 Southern University 54
    No. 8 George Washington 88, No. 9 NC-Wilmington 85(OT)
    No. 12 Texas A&M 66, No. 5 Syracuse 58
    No. 4 LSU 80, No. 13 Iona 64
    No. 6 West Virginia 64, No. 11 Southern Illinois 46
    No. 14 Northwestern State 64, No. 3 Iowa 63
    No. 10 N.C. State 58, No. 7 California 52
    No. 2 Texas 60, No. 15 Pennsylvania 52

    Oakland
    No. 1 Memphis 94, No. 16 Oral Roberts 78
    No. 9 Bucknell 59, No. 8 Arkansas 55
    No. 5 Pittsburgh 79, No. 12 Kent State 64
    No. 13 Bradley 77, No. 4 Kansas 73
    No. 6 Indiana 87, No. 11 San Diego State 83
    No. 3 Gonzaga 79, No. 14 Xavier 75
    No. 10 Alabama 90, No. 7 Marquette 85
    No. 2 UCLA 78, No. 15 Belmont 44

    SECOND ROUND
    Washington, D.C.
    Wichita State 80, Tennessee 73
    Washington 67, Illinois 64
    George Mason 65, North Carolina 60
    Connecticut 87, Kentucky 83

    Minneapolis
    Florida 82, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 60
    Boston College 69, Montana 56
    Georgetown 70, Ohio State 52
    Villanova 82, Arizona 78

    Atlanta
    Duke 74, George Washington 61
    LSU 58, Texas A&M 57
    Texas 75, N.C. State 54
    West Virginia 67, Northwestern State 54

    Oakland
    Gonzaga 90, Indiana 80
    UCLA 62, Alabama 59
    Memphis 72, Bucknell 56
    Bradley 72, Pittsburgh 66

    REGIONAL SEMIFINALS
    Washington, D.C.
    George Mason 63, Wichita State 55
    Connecticut 98, Washington 92(OT)

    Minneapolis
    Villanova 60, Boston College 59(OT)
    Florida 57, Georgetown 53

    Atlanta
    LSU 62, Duke 54
    Texas 74, West Virginia 71

    Oakland
    Memphis 80, Bradley 64
    UCLA 73, Gonzaga 71

    REGIONAL FINALS
    Washington, D.C.
    George Mason 86, Connecticut 84 (OT)

    Minneapolis
    Florida 75, Villanova 62

    Atlanta
    LSU 70, Texas 60(OT)

    Oakland
    UCLA 50, Memphis 45

    NATIONAL SEMIFINALS
    Florida 73, George Mason 58
    UCLA 59, LSU 45

    NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
    Florida 73, UCLA 57

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