The first player taken in tonight’s NBA Draft could be Connecticut’s Rudy Gay. The first point guard taken could be Connecticut’s Marcus Williams. One of the first centers taken could be Connecticut’s Hilton Armstrong.

Which leads to one glaring question:

How in the name of March Madness did the Connecticut Huskies not win the NCAA championship?

“I wondered that the day we lost,” Armstrong said. “Like I don’t know what happened. It just wasn’t a good game for us. And George Mason played great. I tip my hat to them.”

The fact is George Mason was a better team that day. Connecticut was more talented.

A record six Huskies could be drafted tonight. Center Josh Boone might slip into the first round. Shooting guard Denham Brown figures to be a mid-second-round pick. Shooting guard Rashad Anderson could sneak into the second round.

George Mason probably won’t have a player taken.

So how did the Patriots get to the Final Four instead of the Huskies?

“I think a lot of egos may have clashed,” Williams said. “Not publicly, not like we were arguing out loud. But there was a lot of egos. I mean you had six guys who could score 20 points on any given night.

“And at that time, that’s when agents come and the media comes,” Williams continued. “Some guys were getting more publicity than others. I don’t think we were as focused as we should have been.”

That lesson could serve the UConn players well in the NBA, where almost any player is capable of scoring 20 a night. Talent doesn’t always win out. Just ask the Lakers team that had Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Karl Malone and Gary Payton.

“During the tournament we were living life on the edge,” Williams said.

NBA fans will be on the edge of their seats tonight when commissioner David Stern steps to the podium to announce the No. 1 pick, which belongs to Toronto.

The Raptors could select Gay, Andrea Bargnani of Italy, or LSU’s Tyrus Thomas. Or the Raptors could deal the pick, which would make for great theater in the Garden’s theater.

The Knicks have the 20th and 29th picks. The Nets have the 22nd and 23rd picks and are exploring the possibility of trading up to take Armstrong.

Because there is no marquee player and neither local team has a lottery pick, how high and how many UConn players are picked is intriguing. Duke had four players taken in the first round of 1999 Draft: Elton Brand (first), Trajan Langdon (11th), Corey Maggette (13th) and William Avery (14th).

UConn’s top three players said they were looking forward to tonight. Williams said he couldn’t remember the last time he was this nervous. Armstrong burst into laughter during a recent telephone call with his best friend from Peekskill, Keith Staton.

“I told him I might be a millionaire,” Armstrong said.

But he’ll never be an NCAA champ.

“I think about it so many times,” Gay said. “The fact is, no matter how much you want to, we can’t replay that game. I think everyone at this table knows if we played them in a series we’d beat them. But they were on a magic carpet ride.”

First round

1. Toronto

2. Chicago (from Knicks)

3. Charlotte

4. Portland

5. Atlanta

6. Minnesota

7. Boston

8. Houston

9. Golden State

10. Seattle

11. Orlando

12. New Orleans

13. Philadelphia

14. Utah

15. New Orleans (from Milwaukee)

16. Chicago

17. Indiana

18. Washington

19. Sacramento

20. KNICKS (from Denver through Toronto and Nets)

21. Phoenix (from L.A. Lakers through Atlanta and Boston)

22. NETS (from L.A. Clippers through Denver and Orlando)

23. NETS

24. Memphis

25. Cleveland

26. L.A. Lakers (from Miami)

27. Phoenix

28. Dallas

29. KNICKS (from San Antonio)

30. Portland (from Detroit through Utah)