2006 Elite 8 Tournament Preview

Elite 8 Preview

As the 2006 tournament started, it was noted that there was not a truly dominant team in the mix. Here we are headed into the Elite Eight with the tournament’s number one seed, Duke, gone after being stunned by the SEC’s Louisiana State University. The SEC has two clubs in the final eight—LSU (4th seed) and Florida (3rd seed). Although the Big East’s two top seeds, Connecticut and Villanova, are still alive consider the fact that both barely made it out of the Sweet Sixteen.

The PAC-10’s UCLA (2nd seed) and Big 12’s Texas (2nd seed) are alive and kicking. Conference USA’s Memphis (1st seed) has played well and is poised to go to the last week of the tournament if they can make it past UCLA. Finally, George Mason (11th seed), from the Colonial Athletic Association, finds itself in a place few experts thought they’d ever be. They’re playing UCONN on Sunday.

Half of the teams in the Elite Eight are from two conferences, which is fairly standard in this tournament. There’s also one team that’s seeded higher than 10—also not unusual. There are still three number one seeds, two number two seeds and a three and four. All of this is fairly standard.

If past trends hold true, Connecticut and Villanova should be in the final four along with UCLA and LSU. Then again, there are four other teams that will have something to say about that and none of them care about trends or history. They’re all playing in the here and now. By Sunday night we’ll know who’s in the Final Four and still vying for a ticket to the Last Dance.

Here is the 4 elite 8 individual preview and matchups for the elite 8 games.

George Mason/Connecticut

Florida/Villanova

UCLA/Memphis Preview

LSU/Texas Preview

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