Full-court press, 2-3 zone, chanting crowd, cutting down the nets — it must be March Madness.

EA Sports' latest installment to the college basketball series provides the excitement and thrills of the annual tourney. "NCAA March Madness 06" allows for more user control of the plays and players than in previous versions. A new "lockdown stick" allows users to aggressively pressure the ball on defense causing turnovers for quick transition plays. With the ability to call team defensive plays or custom defined plays, users can step-up play on the d-side of the ball.

Always wanted to see Sparty hit the trifecta or see the Duke Devil get posterized in the lane? The mascot challenge mode sets school mascots loose on the hardwood court. There's nothing funnier to see than a giant tree (Stanford) set a pick on an orange Nerf ball (Syracuse).

Game play is fast and uptempo for even the easiest skill level. However, different buttons for dunking and shooting might cause users to find themselves trying to dunk from the three point line after pushing the wrong button. This could be the difference of your team moving on to the next round of the tournaments including the Maui Invitational, a fraternity tournament or the classic March tournament.

Even with the new expanded defensive control, "NCAA March Madness 06" isn't much different than last year's game. My advice would be to save your money, unless you want to play as a strong Spartan team.