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. The 68th annual edition of the tournament began on March 14, 2006, and concluded with the championship game on April 3 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. This was the last time the Final Four was played in the RCA Dome, as it was demolished in 2008.

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

UCLA made the final four after Stanford missed the NCAA tournament since 1988. a feat not repeated until 2025 when UCLA reached it first women's final four while Stanford missed the NCAA tournament since 1987.

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.UConn, 'Nova No. 1 seeds

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, 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 and 19 American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas (Host: Big 12 Conference) The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan (Hosts: Oakland University, Mid-Continent Conference) University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton) Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Host: Atlantic 10 Conference)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 23 and 25 Atlanta Regional, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology) Oakland Regional, Oakland Arena, Oakland, California (Hosts: University of San Francisco, West Coast Conference) March 24 and 26 Minneapolis Regional, Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Host: University of Minnesota) Washington, D.C. Regional, Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) April 1 and 3 RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana (Hosts: Butler University, 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).

ConferenceSchoolAppearanceLast bidACCDuke30th2005America EastAlbany1stNeverAtlantic 10Xavier17th2004Atlantic SunBelmont1stNeverBig 12Kansas35th2005Big EastSyracuse31st2005Big SkyMontana7th2005Big SouthWinthrop6th2005Big TenIowa22nd2005Big WestPacific8th2005ColonialUNC Wilmington4th2003C-USAMemphis19th2004HorizonUW-Milwaukee3rd2005Ivy LeaguePenn22nd2005MAACIona8th2001MACKent State4th2002MEACHampton3rd2002Mid-ConOral Roberts3rd1984Missouri ValleySouthern Illinois9th2005Mountain WestSan Diego State5th2002NortheastMonmouth4th2004Ohio ValleyMurray State13th2004Pac-10UCLA40th2005PatriotBucknell4th2005SECFlorida12th2005SouthernDavidson8th2002SouthlandNorthwestern State2nd2001Sun BeltSouth Alabama7th1998SWACSouthern7th1993WACNevada5th2005West CoastGonzaga9th2005

Listed by region and seeding

Atlanta RegionalSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth 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 AutomaticOakland RegionalSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth 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. RegionalSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth Type#1 Connecticut Big East27–3 At-large#2 Tennessee SEC21–7 At-large#3 North Carolina ACC22–7 At-large#4 Illinois Big Ten25–6 At-large#5 Washington Pac-1024–6 At-large#6 Michigan State Big Ten22–11 At-large#7 Wichita State Missouri Valley24–8 At-large#8 Kentucky SEC21–12 At-large#9 UAB C-USA24–6 At-large#10 Seton Hall Big East18–11 At-large#11 George Mason CAA25–7 At-large#12 Utah State WAC23–8 At-large#13 Air Force Mountain West24–6 At-large#14 Murray State Ohio Valley24–6 Automatic#15 Winthrop Big South23–7 Automatic#16 Albany America East21–10 Automatic Minneapolis RegionalSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth 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 BidsConference(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 1 19 other conferences

Bracket 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 Conference# of BidsRecordWin %R32S16E8F4CG 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 0– – – – CAA 2 4–2 .667 1 1 1 1 0– C–USA 2 3–2 .600 1 1 1 0– – MWC 2 0–2 .000 0– – – – – WAC 2 0–2 .000 0– 0– – – – Southland Conference 1 1–1 .500 1 0– – – – WCC 1 2–1 .667 1 1 – – – Patriot League 1 1–1 .500 1 0– – – – Horizon League 1 1–1 .500 1 0– – – – Big Sky Conference 1 1–1 .500 1 0– – – – 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 Jim Nantz/Billy Packer/Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Minneapolis Regional at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome; Final Four at Indianapolis, Indiana Dick Enberg/Jay Bilas/Bob Wenzel – First & Second Round at San Diego, California; Atlanta Regional at the Georgia Dome Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Mike Gminski – First & Second Round at Auburn Hills, Michigan; Washington, D.C. Regional at the Verizon Center Gus Johnson/Len Elmore/Tracy Wolfson – First & Second Round at Dayton, Ohio; Oakland Regional at the Oakland Arena Kevin Harlan/Dan Bonner – First & Second Round at Greensboro, North Carolina Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel – First & Second Round at Salt Lake City, Utah Craig Bolerjack/Bob Wenzel – First & Second Round at Dallas, Texas Tim Brando/Stephen Bardo/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.

See also 2006 NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament 2006 NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament 2006 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament 2006 NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament 2006 NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament 2006 National Invitation Tournament 2006 Women's National Invitation Tournament 2006 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament