MAIN Sports Basketball March Madness NCAA 2006 - For the Record

also see -> March Madness 2008

Opening Round
Hampton 49 vs. Monmouth 71 - Monmouth advances
Tuesday, March 14, 2006

How are your Bracket predictions holding up against the real results? Did anyone - anywhere - put LSU instead of Duke in the Final 4? Could anyone have guessed that GMU would be playing Florida with U Conn & Nova eliminated? It doesn't seem like it! Here are a few early predictions from the experts to make you feel better...

Which Teams Will Advance to the Final Four - By Vito Forlenza, Comcast.net Sports Editor on March 16th
Inside the Shark Tank - By Bryan McGovern, SIRIUS Sports Editor on March 15th
Yahoo Final Four Predictions - By John Akers and Ken Davis on March 13th
Expert Picks from AOL - By AOL Fanball Staff on March 12th

Game #1 Saturday April 1, 2006 - FINAL
GMU 58 vs. Florida 73 - RECAP

Game #2 Saturday April 1, 2006 - FINAL
LSU 45 vs. UCLA 59

Billy Packer is a commentator for CBS’ coverage of the Final Four. His comments on the current teams going to the Final 4? “But then you look back and you see this team in two weeks beat Michigan State, North Carolina, Wichita State and... UConn,” he said. “If you said to me before this tournament started, is there anybody in the country can do that, I’d say ‘nobody,’ and I certainly wouldn’t have picked George Mason to be that team.”

The Cinderella Story of George Mason University's Patriots may have ended with their loss to Florida, but they played a tourney that won't soon be forgotten. The unknown school from the unfamiliar conference has made everyone who lives and loves college basketball take another look at what makes a team a winner. The noise was loud when GMU went the distance to the Final Four...and the echoes will be felt for a very long time.

The Gators made 12 out of 25 shots from the field while the Patriots managed only 2 out of 11. Setting up and making the 3 point shots plus superior energy and rebounding were the whole story for Florida. GMU came out strong and led the first few minutes of the game, but Florida established early dominance and never gave it back.

The Patriots finally felt the lack of backup on the bench. You had the feeling that if the Patriots had a bit more depth on the bench, always the fatal flaw in GMU's plan, the game might have ended differently. All of these players have given marathon performances throughout the Championship and it looked like Florida was just more energetic as the game wore on. Florida played the best...Florida played their best...and won!

Sports911 put George Mason's odds of winning at 6 to 1...a big improvement over the 500 to 1 odds they started with. How does GMU feel about their Cinderella status? George Mason guard Tony Skinn put into words what everyone else was thinking... "We don't mind being Cinderella. We weren't supposed to get into the tournament and we got into it. We weren't supposed to beat Michigan State and we beat them. We weren't supposed to beat North Carolina and we beat them. We definitely weren't supposed to beat Connecticut. I think we'll stick to the script going into whoever we play." No one can argue with that attitude when it obviously works. The Patriots may not have earned a Championship Title this year, but they did earn a lot of respect for their team, their conference and all schools in their class.

Last year the final four games were OT nail biters. This year, it was clear who was the stronger team from a few miinutes into the games. The Bruins defense overwhelmed the LSU offense. The injuries during the season gave the second string players on the bench good experience and the depth of support made the difference in this game. UCLA slowed down by the end of game, but by then it was too late for LSU...

Monday April 3, 2006 - FINAL

Florida Gators 73 vs UCLA Bruins 57

Florida dominated the action throughout this game. Florida plays in your face ball and UCLA seemed to be stepping back. Noah left leaving records broken in his wake and the rest of the Gators - including the bench - scored big. All of the Gators starters were in double digits.

UCLA had to step up the agressiveness of their play to match the eagerness of the Gators. The Bruins never were able to do that. Florida made three pointers...the Bruins did not. Florida was bumping, grabbing and taking the ball away from UCLA and to the basket any way they could. The Bruins didn't have enough time in one game to figure out how to stop the combined teamwork, energy and skill of the Gators. The Gators were hungry and they feasted on UCLA at the final.

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