Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. From what I remember, this title game was controlled by the Gators, with UCLA posing no real threat, thus capping a bit of a disappointing Final Four. With that said, I absolutely love this Florida team of Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, Lee Humphrey and Taurean Green. I always wondered what if Noah declared for the draft after the 2006 NCAA Tournament. How high would he have gone? Of course, the Gators decided to run it back and went back-to-back the following season. The Bruins would return to the 2007 Final Four, where it would get knocked out in the semifinal by Florida! UCLA would reach the Final Four again in 2008 with freshman sensation Kevin Love. How I long for the days of rosters that developed together for three or four seasons in college basketball! :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember feeling a bit disappointed after Florida knocked out George Mason in the first Final Four game. Thus, I was hoping LSU-UCLA would be a better game. I was disappointed again as UCLA seemed to control the Tigers from what I recall. I was a bit surprised by this result as LSU had defeated two impressive opponents, #1 Duke and #2 Texas, to reach the Final Four. Seeming to have the momentum from its Sweet Sixteen comeback against Gonzaga, the Bruins continued what I thought was a surprising run to the title game. I will add that I had a friend at the time who predicted a Florida - UCLA national title game in his initial brackets. I was quite impressed with that prognostication as I did not see the Gators and Bruins reaching the Final Four, yet alone, getting to the title game. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember having just moved into a new apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina, on this day, finally getting settled to watch the Final Four. My cousin Jim called me from Chicago, and we talked pregame about whether or not George Mason could beat Florida. We were of the opinion that George Mason could beat Florida; however, reality was much different as the Gators ended the Patriots' miracle run. Little did we know that Florida would be establishing itself as an all-time team that would win back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. After George Mason's thrilling upset of UCONN, I was hoping Villanova would pull through against the Gators. Villanova was my pick to win in tall, but the Wildcats were looking shaky heading into the game against Florida, which won an ugly Sweet Sixteen contest against Georgetown. Well, on this day, the Gators would control the Wildcats. I'll never forget Joakim Noah exclaiming after the game that "The Gator Boys were going to the Final Four." :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. Years later I will never forget this day that George Mason truly shocked the world. After defeating Michigan State, North Carolina and Wichita State, George Mason's run seemingly had to come to an end against all powerful Connecticut, right? On this day my Dad had asked me to drive from Raleigh, North Carolina to nearby Virginia to look at a home he was thinking of renting for a summer trip from Chicago. I was kind of mad that I had to go, but I did it anyway, having to listen to most of this game on the radio. While the potential rental property turned out to be a Dud, this game was an absolute Stud. It seemed like UCONN was pulling away in the second half when George Mason rallied. Luckily for me, I got back home to my apartment just in time to see UCONN's Denham Brown hit a crazy reverse layup to send the game into overtime. Thinking George Mason would succumb in overtime, I was proven wrong once again as the Patriots took the lead and held on, with Brown missing a game-winning three at the buzzer. I will never forget Verne Lundquist's magical call at the end of the game: "By George, the dream is alive." Man, I miss listening to that guy call tournament games. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. For years I thought this game had gone missing from NCAA Tournament games that I recorded. I know I was in the middle of moving from one apartment to another when recording this game, and I figured it must have been lost in the move. Actually, this game was hiding on the second disc of the LSU and Texas game. Usually, I would not record another game on a disc with a game already on it. Apparently, I did on this day, forgetting to label that UCLA and Memphis was on this disc. Oh well. I am glad I have found this game, which, from what I remember, was quite ugly. UCLA would win 50-45 as Memphis would lose in two straight Elite Eights before the arrival of Derrick Rose would get them to the Final Four during the 2008 NCAA Tournament. UCLA had a bunch of  pros on this team, including Jordan Farmar, Aaron Afflalo, Ryan Hollins, Darren Collison and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute. Amazingly, UCLA would make three straight Final Fours from 2006 to 2008. This game was definitely foreshadowing two of the premier programs in college basketball at the time. UCLA Head Coach Ben Howland had things cooking in Westwood, though his fall would come quite quickly after this run. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember being on the LSU bandwagon after the Tigers knocked out Duke during the Sweet Sixteen. For some reason I cannot remember, I was not a big fan of Texas basketball at the time. With age and wisdom, I have really come to respect Rick Barnes as a basketball coach. I hope he can get Tennessee to a Final Four before he retires after three straight losses in the Elite Eight. Anyways, there are a lot of future pros bouncing around in this game, including LSU's Tyrus Thomas and Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Texas' LaMarcus Aldridge and P.J. Tucker, who I became a fan of when he helped the Milwaukee Bucks win the NBA Title in 2021. Note: This game is broken up into two discs. I am excited to note that the second video contains the full Elite Eight game between #2 UCLA and #1 Memphis. For years, I couldn't find this game, though it was on the second disc of LSU and Texas. I did not label the disc correctly as I was in the middle of a move. The UCLA-Memphis game was quite ugly, with a final score of 50-45. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I don't remember much from this Sweet Sixteen game between the Hoyas and Gators as I was watching the overtime classic between the Huskies of UCONN and the Huskies of Washington. I wish I had paid more attention as this Florida team would be marching its way to the school's first national championship with Head Coach Billy Donovan and star players Joakim Noah, Al Horford, Corey Brewer, Taurean Green and Lee Humphrey. Georgetown was hardly mince meat, with Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green, and would make the Final Four the following season. I forgot how close this game was, and how low scoring it was. Also, Noah looks so young in these games. I fell in love with Noah as a player during the 2006 NCAA Tournament. I remember him being projected as the #1 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft at the start of the 2006-07 college basketball season. Amazingly, Noah would drop all the way to #9 in the draft to my hometown Chicago Bulls. I was so excited to have Noah in Chicago, though the mediocrity of the Bulls organization would eventually cause me to lose interest. It stinks when bad organizations make it hard to watch fun players like Noah. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember feeling quite confident that George Mason would win this game after defeating Michigan State and North Carolina during the first and second rounds of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. My confidence was proven correct as the Patriots took care of the Shockers during a game that I feel was not all that close, though my attention at the time was on the Boston College-Villanova game. :-)

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember still stewing from Washington's victory against Illinois in the second round, especially the free-throw shooting disparity, at the start of this Sweet Sixteen game. However, as Washington was giving UCONN a game, my rooting interest turned to the Huskies of Seattle rather than the Huskies of Storrs. It looked like Washington was going to win this game at the end of regulation before Rashad Anderson hit a ridiculous three to send it to overtime. UCONN's tourney of playing with its food would come to an end in the Elite Eight against Cinderella George Mason. Note: This game is broken up into two parts as I had to record the overtime on a separate disc. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember being frustrated for various reasons watching this Sweet Sixteen game between Big East counterparts Boston College and Villanova. First, I was in the middle of a move and was trying to disassemble this large workstation I had in my room. I remember it took nearly two days to put the desk together. As I was disassembling it, one of the pieces of the workstation broke, leaving me quite frustrated. Second, I had picked Villanova to win the entire tournament, and the Wildcats were not looking good against the Eagles. Familiarity often breeds ugly tourney games, and this contest was certainly that. While Villanova would survive late on a fortuitous play, the Wildcats were not looking like title favorites, which would prove to be the case a few days later when #3 Florida absolutely boat raced Nova. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember being quite upset after Texas defeated West Virginia on a last-second three when I turned to this game. The Bulldogs were up big, making me even madder as I had grown tired of the Adam Morrison and J.J. Redick narrative all season long. Amazingly, UCLA would stage a miraculous comeback, leaving Morrison in tears. Ironically, Morrison and Redick were linked together all season as the two best players in college basketball, and their careers would come to an end in shocking fashions on the same night. I am not going to lie, I wasn't complaining!  Honestly, I think this was the Gonzaga team that turned me from a fan to the hater of the program as the Bulldogs were no plucky upstart anymore. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. Oh how this game still hurts 20 years later. I became a huge fan of these West Virginia teams prior to their run to the Elite Eight during the 2005 NCAA Tournament. I was living in Champaign, Illinois, preparing to move to Raleigh, North Carolina, when I watched West Virginia make a run to the Big East title game in 2005. I fell in love with this unselfish team. While everyone loves Kevin Pittsnogle, my heart was partial to Mike Gansey, one of my all-time favorite college basketball players. Coached by John Beilein, this West Virginia team featured Joe Herber, Darris Nichols, J.D. Collins, Frank Young, Rob Summers, Tyrone Sally, Patrick Beilein, D'or Fischer and others. While falling short of the 2005 Final Four, West Virginia was my sleeper team to make it there during the 2006 NCAA Tournament. After Duke fell to L.S.U. in the prior game, the opportunity was there for the Mountaineers. Unfortunately, LaMarcus Aldridge was a beast this game. How I didn't see that Aldridge was the better prospect than Tyrus Thomas blows my mind all these years later. Admittedly, I was not a Texas fan at the time, though I came to respect the program under Head Coach Rick Barnes. Back to the West Virginia-Texas game, things looked bleak late, until Pittsnogle hit a ridiculous three to tie the game. Instead of calling timeout, Barnes let this team rush the ball up court, leading to a Kenton Paulino three at the buzzer. What a devastating loss for WVU but a great NCAA Tournament game. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. At the time of this game, I was moving from one apartment to another in Raleigh, North Carolina. In the living room I had this game playing. In my bedroom I had the LSU - Duke game playing. I was obviously more interested in the Tigers - Blue Devils game than the Braves - Tigers game. I do remember running in and out of my bedroom to check on the progress of this game, which was never really close from my recollections. Nonetheless, Bradley had an awesome run, and Patrick O'Bryant played himself into the NBA lottery during the 2006 NCAA Tournament. These pre-Derrick Rose Memphis teams are always a bit blurry to me, though Joey Dorsey scared the living daylights out of me and Chris Douglas-Roberts was a bucket. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember this game quite well. I was working for a company, and we had an outing at a Go-Kart place after work. I was getting a bit nervous as this game was tipping off soon and thus came up with some excuse to leave. This was a shocker of an upset at the time as Duke seemed destined to be Final Four bound during the senior seasons of J.J. Redick and Sheldon Williams. LSU's Tyrus Thomas would earn himself a lot of money this game with his defensive activity at the rim. Sadly, the Bulls would draft LaMarcus Aldridge and trade his rights for Thomas during the 2006 NBA Draft. At the time, everyone was praising the move. Of course, it was a mistake, though I liked Thomas on the Bulls. He was always a fun wildcard. A few years later I was working out in Deerfield, Illinois, where the Bulls used to practice. I would frequently see Thomas and James Johnson on the train from Chicago to Deerfield for summer workouts. Thomas actually seemed pretty cool. I remember one time he stepped aside and let an older woman get on the train. Johnson and he would also take photos with fans, though I never bothered to ask them. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I remember being torn watching this game as I had picked Villanova to win the whole 2006 NCAA Tournament. I remember seeing them the season before put a smackdown on Kansas during a December game in Philadelphia, and of course, I was still upset that the Wildcats got robbed against North Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen of the 2005 NCAA Tournament. With guards Randy Foye, Mike Nardi, Allan Ray and Kyle Lowry, this Villanova team was an incredibly fun watch. As for Arizona, I was at the waning stages of my fandom of the Wildcats, which were my favorite team besides Illinois from 1997 to 2007. This Arizona team had some players I really loved, including Hassan Adams, Mustafa Shakur and a freshman named Marcus Williams. Ultimately, this was a close game that would go down to the wire. Note: This game is broken up into two parts. The 2006 NCAA Tournament was the first I recorded on DVD. To ensure the highest picture quality, I would never record more than two hours per disc, though that would change in time. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. From what I remember, this was a very close second-round game, with a less-talented Kentucky team under Tubby Smith giving a more-talented UCONN team under Jim Calhoun a very competitive challenge. I remember not buying this UCONN team as a Final Four contender, though it seem destined after the Huskies survived Kentucky and Washington before facing George Mason in the Elite Eight. I was not the biggest Rudy Gay fan in college, though I came to respect him more as a pro. Gay was so talented but seemed disinterested at points in college as did this experienced UCONN team. Sometimes it is hard to find the mental edge to get back to a Final Four, and this UCONN team struggled in this area with several holdovers from its 2004 national championship team. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I am not going to lie, I don't remember watching much of this game, as my attention was drawn on George Mason shocking North Carolina and Bradley upsetting Pittsburgh on this day. This would be Herb Sendek's last game as N.C. State Head Coach. The Wolfpack fan base could not wait to get rid of him after this loss to a Texas team featuring LaMarcus Aldridge and P.J. Tucker, who was from Raleigh. I remember more of the aftermath of this loss, how N.C. State thought it was getting John Calipari from Memphis before having to settle for Sidney Lowe, the point guard on the Wolfpack's 1983 national championship team. Things did not go well for Lowe at N.C. State. However, at least he was a Wolfpack legend and left in better standing than Will Wade, who returned to LSU after just one season at N.C. State following a first-four loss to Texas during the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Talk about an all-time snake move. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. To this day, this upset shocks me. I could not believe that George Mason got through Michigan State and North Carolina in the first and second rounds. Both teams had made the Final Four during the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Quite simply, this George Mason team did not blink against a North Carolina team that showed its youth. This game is a really fun watch, especially as the fans at the UD Arena began to side with the Patriots in the second half. Twenty years later, George Mason's run is one of the more improbable and captivating experiences I have had as a fan. I absolutely loved this George Mason team, especially its lefty power forward Will Thomas, who was money in the post. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I do not remember much specifically from this game, though I was excited to see Bradley get another upset after shocking #4 seed Kansas in the first round. With Illinois eliminated against Washington in the second round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament, Bradley was the team I adopted, along with George Mason. This would be an exciting day of upsets as Bradley would beat Pitt and then George Mason would shock North Carolina. Come to think of it, the 2006 NCAA Tournament had a lot more upsets than I realized. I wish the 2026 NCAA Tournament could say the same thing. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. I have absolutely no recollection of this game, probably because I was depressed after Illinois had just lost to Washington earlier in the day. I do remember the media being all about Duke's J.J. Redick and Gonzaga's Adam Morrison during this season. While I respected Morrison's game, I absolutely could not stand his antics on the court. I remember after the Bulldogs' first-round victory against Xavier in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, how some Musketeers' players commented about Morrison allegedly saying some inappropriate things to them on the court, something along the lines of "I hope you get run over by a train." It was quite weird. While Gonzaga would defeat the Hoosiers, the Bulldogs would blow a big lead against UCLA in the Sweet Sixteen, resulting in Morrison breaking down immediately after the loss. Months later I couldn't believe when Michael Jordan's Charlotte Bobcats drafted Morrison, who would have a short NBA career, though he did win two titles as a reserve with the Los Angeles Lakers. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. Oh, how this game still hurts to this day as it was the last game in the Orange and Blue for Dee Brown and James Augustine. I remember watching this game while on the phone with my Dad, trying to figure out how to do my taxes given that I had lived in two states, Illinois and North Carolina, the previous year. I was quite annoyed as my attention was being taken away from a game during which Washington came out and punched the Illini in the face. Illinois would have an incredible rally and even lead by 10 points at one point in the second half. After finishing my taxes, I remember getting on the phone with my brother to talk about how if Illinois continued to play like this, the Illini could beat #1 UCONN in the Sweet Sixteen. Of course, Washington came back to take the lead. Illinois had a final shot to win the game, but Brown missed a three over the outstretched arms of Washington's Bobby Jones. I will never forget the CBS cameras following Brown running into the locker room for the last time as an Illini. The realization hit me then and stays with me today: one of the greatest eras in Illinois basketball history, the Dee Brown years, had come to an end. :-( Luckily for me, I got to witness three of those amazing four years as a student at the U-of-I. To this day, Illinois has had better basketball players than Dee, but no one player was more important in the program's history than the orange headband-wearing Brown! :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. As an Illinois fan, it is always a good day when a team coached by Bruce Pearl goes down, especially when a former Illini, in this case Wichita State forward Kyle Wilson, is helping lead the upset. After guiding UW Milwaukee to the Sweet Sixteen, where it lost to Illinois during the 2005 NCAA Tournament, Panthers' Head Coach Bruce Pearl moved on to Tennessee. For some reason, I remember being at a family party for Easter during the 2005 Elite Eight (the day of Wisconsin-UNC and MSU-Kentucky) and listening to two of my uncle's brothers arguing about whether or not Pearl was going to leave UWM. One of my brother's uncles lived in Milwaukee and was adamant that Pearl would not leave. The other brother essentially called him crazy, saying that Pearl would leave. As a fly on the wall, I was quite amused by this argument, which got quite heated. Anyways, I vaguely remember this Wichita State-Tennessee game being pretty close. I was happy to see Tennessee lose, though I did have a Volunteers' player named Chris Lofton on my fantasy college basketball team's roster. :-) Note: This game is broken up into two parts. 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. Having lived in Raleigh, North Carolina, at the time of this game, I actually got to see both of these teams play in person this season. George Washington got absolutely crushed against N.C. State at the RBC Center while J.J. Redick became Duke's all-time leading scorer in a game against Miami (FL) at Cameron Indoor Stadium. With these games providing perspective, I figured this second-round tilt between GW and Duke would not be close, and from what I remember, it really wasn't. Duke was looking like it was destined for a Final Four, that is, until L.S.U.'s Tyrus Thomas and Glen "Big Baby" Davis said otherwise in the Sweet Sixteen less than a week later. :-) 

Enjoy from my personal collection of NCAA Tournament games. While living in North Carolina at the time of this game, I hate to admit that I came to like this UNC team with senior David Noel and freshmen Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green. Even thought the Tar Heels defeated my Fighting Illini during the 2005 title game (the Illini would get revenge against UNC at the Dean Dome this season), this UNC team really grew on me throughout the season. While not the most talented UNC team, the Tar Heels also featured a kid from Chicago named Bobby Frasor, who would start at point guard and then be a backup the rest of his career for Ty Lawson. Noel was one reason I liked this UNC team. A role player on the 2025 title team, Noel was really good on this Carolina team; in fact, he was on my college basketball fantasy team's roster and won me a big playoff game to get to the championship. Entering the 2006 NCAA Tournament, UNC looked like it could make a Final Four run, though a second-round matchup against George Mason would end any of those hopes. Actually, this first-round game against Murray State foreshadowed UNC's demise as the Racers hung tough with the Tar Heels.  :-)