2006 NCAA Tournament: DC/Minneapolis Regional Finals

Why do you still come to this website? It’s not to get insight into who will win games, because all of a sudden I can’t get anything right. 1-5 the last two nights combined? What’s the hell is going on? After watching Texas play uninspired basketball against LSU, I was forced to watch my other Final Four pick from that half of the bracket, Memphis, shoot worse then some of the rec league teams I’ve played for. If you told me that UCLA was only going to score 50 points against Memphis, I would have predicted no less than a 25 point win for the Tigers. If Calipari couldn’t get this team, in this weak region, facing an average UCLA squad, into the Final Four, I don’t know if he will every be able to repeat his success at UMass.

So in the course of 48 hours, my seemingly sexy picks of Gonzaga, Boston College, Texas and Memphis have stunk up the tournament like rotting carcasses on the Savannah. I’ll try to pick two more winners today, but if I were you, I’d put money on the two teams I’m not advancing to the Final Four.




#11 George Mason Patriots (26-7) vs.
#1 Connecticut Huskies (30-3)
Washington DC Regional Final
Verizon Center – Washington, DC

GMU beat #6 Michigan St., #3 UNC, #7 Wichita St.
UConn beat #16 Albany, #8 Kentucky, #5 Washington

The only reason I still have a Final Four team left, and my championship team left, is because UConn somehow found the “Duke refs” and paid them more than Ratface could. For the first time in this tournament, which has been real well officiated, the refs cost a team the game. Washington should have won despite having their entire starting lineup in foul trouble by the early part of the second half. Still, the East Coast Huskies hit all the big shots, as Rashad Anderson and Marcus Williams took the game over down the stretch.

Meanwhile, GMU has become a thorn in my side all tournament. I haven’t picked them to win a game yet, but here they are. And all props to the Patriots. They’ve been outmatched in every game they’ve played so far, but they find ways to win. Lamar Butler is a real talent. Jai Lewis and Will Thomas have been impressive inside. Tony Skinn hasn’t sucker-punched anybody yet. However, their fans (I didn’t even know they had fans until two weeks ago) are becoming obnoxious in the DC area. Yes, we know your team has done well this season. Just don’t talk trash like this type of season is going to be typical. This area still belongs to Maryland and Georgetown, so let’s just have everybody calm down. GMU is a great story, but they will end up being just another footnote in the national picture when this tournament is over. For all those who think that the Pats are going to become another Gonzaga are just wrong. Gonzaga is the exception rather than the norm. Otherwise, we’d have powerhouses at Butler, Kent State, Valparaiso and College of Charleston by now.

For the fourth straight game, Connecticut will have better matchups all over the court, and the Patriots are facing mismatches at almost every position. So why will this game not play out like the last three for UConn (getting challenges from lesser teams) and GMU (somehow beating better units)? I just figure that the Huskies are going to wake up and realize that they have five NBA players on their team and that it’s embarrassing to almost lose to schools that can’t even win their crummy conference tournaments.

Lewis and Thomas are going to be in for a rough game today. With Hilton Armstrong and Josh Boone inside, the Patriots inside tandem is facing a team with two good interior players for the first time all tournament. Against Michigan State, GMU only had to deal with Paul Davis (who doesn’t like playing inside anyway). Against UNC, it was only Tyler Hansbrough. And against Wichita State, they only had to handle Paul Miller. Now Mason is facing a height disadvantage at every position on the court.


Jai: You won't be facing teams from Wichita, Kansas anymore.

Thomas does have one thing going for him. He played Rudy Gay numerous times through their high school careers. And Thomas actually played better than Gay in most of those head-to-head matchups. Gay has been struggling in the tournament so far, and I don’t see any hope that he will snap out of his slump in this game. But as everyone knows, even though Gay is the most talented player on the Huskies, he is not their most important player, nor does the team have to have a great game from him to win.

So if Thomas is on Gay, then there is still the question of who will stop both Boone and Armstrong. Lewis can’t stop both of them at the same time. And while Gay and Boone get all the attention, it is Anderson, Williams and Denham Brown that are carrying the Huskies through the tournament so far. These are tall, physical and fast guards that Mason has not seen the likes of all season. It would be an incredible accomplishment, and maybe the best college basketball story since the '83 Cardiac Pack if GMU could somehow make the Final Four. Sorry Patriots, the clock has finally struck midnight.
Pick: Connecticut 83, George Mason 72




#3 Florida Gators (30-6) vs.
#1 Villanova Wildcats (28-4)
Minneapolis Regional Final
H.H.H. Metrodome – Minneapolis, MN

UF beat #14 S.Alabama, #11 UW-M, #7 Georgetown
Nova beat #16 Monmouth, #8 Arizona, #4 BC

As I write this, I have Dick Vitale screaming at me on ESPN News about Billy Donovan. He’s ranting against all those who thought Donovan couldn’t coach and didn’t know what he was doing in the NCAA tournament. Sorry Dickie, isn’t this the guy who has massively talented teams every season and usually can’t get them past the first weekend? Like last year, when he featured a team that had Matt Walsh and David Lee and couldn’t beat Villanova in the second round.

Here’s how I look at this game. Villanova is much better than they were last year, even without Curtis Sumpter (who got hurt in that Florida game) and the Gators, despite having more tournament success, are not as talented as they were last season. So how can Florida change the result of last year’s contest?


Corey Brewer is a nice player, but not talented enough to carry the Gators.

Florida, as they proved in their game against Georgetown, is a one-man team. Without a consistent presence from Joakim Noah, the Gators can’t score and their offense doesn’t run properly. When the Hoyas doubled-down on Noah and shutoff Florida’s interior passing lanes, the Gators offensive set fell apart. When Noah left the game, Florida looked lost on offense. And on defense, with Noah on the bench, the Gators can’t box out well on the boards. But as Roy Hibbert got fatigued, and the rest of the Hoya big men got in foul trouble, Noah took over the game and Georgetown no longer had second and third chance opportunities. Sure, Lee Humphrey is a nice player, and he has his fair share of good games. Same goes for Al Horford, Corey Brewer and Taurean Green. But without a MVP-type game from Noah, the Gators are in trouble.

The problem for UF in this game won’t be Noah’s inside matchup with Will Sheridan and the other Nova forward reserves. It will be just getting the ball into Noah so he can score. Villanova’s four guard set allows them to be the quickest team left in the tournament. And no where is it more obvious as when they’re playing defense. They’ve got extremely quick hands, and passing lanes that are open one second are rapidly closed the next. And Florida had plenty of problems with their entry passes against the slower, more methodical Hoyas. It could get real ugly against the speedy Cats.


To cancel out the extreme ugliness of Joakim Noah, I had to include a picture of the smokin' Scarlett Johansson. You're welcome.

Noah, because of his height and size advantage over the smaller Wildcats is going to get his points. But the rest of Florida’s team is nothing special, and much more inexperienced than Villanova. Team Gimmick gets it done again with smoke and mirrors, setting up an exciting rubber match between Nova and UConn.
Pick: Villanova 73, Florida 66