1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1996 NCAA Men's Division I
Basketball Tournament
	1996 Final Four logo
Season	1995–96
Teams	64
Finals site	Continental Airlines Arena; East Rutherford, New Jersey
Champions	Kentucky (6th title, 8th title game,; 11th Final Four)
Runner-up	Syracuse (2nd title game,; 3rd Final Four)
Semifinalists	Mississippi State (1st Final Four); Massachusetts (Vacated) (1st Final Four);
Winning coach	Rick Pitino (1st title)
MOP	Tony Delk (Kentucky)
Attendance	631,834
Top scorer	John Wallace Syracuse; (131 points)
NCAA Men's Division I Tournaments
«1995	1997»

The 1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 14, 1996, and ended with the championship game on April 1 at Continental Airlines Arena (now known as Izod Center) in the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey. A total of 63 games were played.

The Final Four venue was notable for several reasons:

This marked the first time that the NCAA finals had been held in Greater New York since 1950.
This was also the last (men's) Final Four to be held in a basketball/hockey-specific facility. Every Final Four since has been held in a domed stadium (usually built for football) because of NCAA venue capacity requirements. Therefore, this was also the last time the NCAA finals have been held in the Greater New York area (for the time being).
Kentucky star Antoine Walker faced off against former high school teammate, Donovan McNabb, in the national championship against Syracuse University. McNabb would later gain fame as a quarterback with the Philadelphia Eagles.^[1]

The Final Four consisted of Kentucky, making their first appearance in the Final Four since 1993 and eleventh overall, Massachusetts, making their first ever appearance in the Final Four, Syracuse, making their third appearance in the Final Four and first since 1987, and Mississippi State, also making their first appearance.

Kentucky won their sixth national championship by defeating Syracuse in the final game 76-67.

Tony Delk of Kentucky was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Kentucky's run to the championship was one of the most dominant in NCAA tournament history, as the Wildcats won each of their first four games by at least 20 points and won every game by at least 7 points.

The committee that put together the bracket in 1996 was criticized for placing what seemed to be the best two teams in college basketball - Massachusetts and Kentucky - on the same side of the bracket so that they faced each other in the national semifinal - not the final game itself.^{[citation needed]} Note that there are guidelines that the selection committee follows. In 2004 the procedure would be changed so that the regional sites would first be assigned their #1 seeds, then would be placed in the bracket so that the #1 overall seed would face the fourth #1 seed while the second #1 seed would face the third #1 seed, barring any upsets. However, it must also be noted that Connecticut was the presumed #1 overall seed that season, after compiling a 30-2 record during the season in a strong Big East Conference, including a conference tournament victory. Meanwhile, Kentucky was apparently dropped to the #3 overall seed following their defeat to Mississippi State in the SEC conference tournament final. Kentucky also could not be placed in the Southeast region since the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games were being played in Kentucky's home arena, Rupp Arena.

Connecticut, coached by Jim Calhoun and Massachusetts, coached by John Calipari, were later stripped of their wins, including the UMass Minutemen's Final Four appearance, by the NCAA because players (including UMass star Marcus Camby) had accepted illegal gifts from agents.^[2]

Locations

Providence

Richmond

Indianapolis

Orlando

Milwaukee

Dallas

Albuquerque

Tempe

1997 first and second rounds

Denver

Minneapolis

Lexington

Atlanta

E. Rutherford

1997 Regionals (blue) and Final Four (red)

Teams

East Regional - Atlanta
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Massachusetts (vacated)	John Calipari	Atlantic 10	31-1	Automatic
#2	Georgetown	John Thompson	Big East	26-7	At-Large
#3	Texas Tech	James Dickey	SWC	28-1	Automatic
#4	Marquette	Mike Deane	Conference USA	22-7	At-Large
#5	Penn State	Jerry Dunn	Big Ten	21-6	At-Large
#6	North Carolina	Dean Smith	ACC	20-10	At-Large
#7	New Mexico	Dave Bliss	WAC	27-4	Automatic
#8	Bradley	Jim Molinari	Missouri Valley	22-7	At-Large
#9	Stanford	Mike Montgomery	Pac-10	19-8	At-Large
#10	Kansas State	Tom Asbury	Big Eight	17-11	At-Large
#11	New Orleans	Tic Price	Sun Belt	21-8	Automatic
#12	Arkansas	Nolan Richardson	SEC	18-12	At-Large
#13	Monmouth	Wayne Szoke	NEC	20-9	Automatic
#14	Northern Illinois	Brian Hammel	MCC	20-9	Automatic
#15	Mississippi Valley State	Lafayette Stribling	SWAC	22-6	Automatic
#16	Central Florida	Kirk Speraw	TAAC	11-18	Automatic

Midwest Regional - Minneapolis
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Kentucky	Rick Pitino	SEC	28-2	At-Large
#2	Wake Forest	Dave Odom	ACC	23-5	Automatic
#3	Villanova	Steve Lappas	Big East	25-6	At-Large
#4	Utah	Rick Majerus	WAC	25-6	At-Large
#5	Iowa State	Tim Floyd	Big Eight	23-8	Automatic
#6	Louisville	Denny Crum	Conference USA	20-11	At-Large
#7	Michigan (vacated)	Steve Fisher	Big Ten	20-11	At-Large
#8	UW-Green Bay	Mike Heideman	MCC	25-3	At-Large
#9	Virginia Tech	Bill Foster	Atlantic 10	22-5	At-Large
#10	Texas	Tom Penders	SWC	20-9	At-Large
#11	Tulsa	Steve Robinson	Missouri Valley	22-7	Automatic
#12	California	Todd Bozeman	Pac-10	17-10	At-Large
#13	Canisius	John Beilein	MAAC	19-10	Automatic
#14	Portland	Rob Chavez	West Coast	19-10	Automatic
#15	Northeast Louisiana	Mike Vining	Southland	16-13	Automatic
#16	San Jose State	Stan Morrison	Big West	13-16	Automatic

Southeast Regional - Lexington
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Connecticut	Jim Calhoun	Big East	30-2	Automatic
#2	Cincinnati	Bob Huggins	Conference USA	25-4	At-Large
#3	Georgia Tech	Bobby Cremins	ACC	22-11	At-Large
#4	UCLA	Jim Harrick	Pac-10	23-7	Automatic
#5	Mississippi State	Richard Williams	SEC	22-7	Automatic
#6	Indiana	Bob Knight	Big Ten	19-11	At-Large
#7	Temple	John Chaney	Atlantic 10	19-12	At-Large
#8	Duke	Mike Krzyzewski	ACC	18-12	At-Large
#9	Eastern Michigan	Ben Braun	Mid-American	24-5	Automatic
#10	Oklahoma	Kelvin Sampson	Big Eight	17-12	At-Large
#11	Boston College	Jim O'Brien	Big East	18-10	At-Large
#12	Virginia Commonwealth	Sonny Smith	CAA	17-10	Automatic
#13	Princeton	Pete Carril	Ivy League	21-6	Automatic
#14	Austin Peay	Dave Loos	Ohio Valley	19-10	Automatic
#15	UNC Greensboro	Randy Peele	Big South	20-9	Automatic
#16	Colgate	Jack Bruen	Patriot League	15-14	Automatic

West Regional - Denver
Seed	School	Coach	Conference	Record	Bid Type
#1	Purdue	Gene Keady	Big Ten	25-5	Automatic
#2	Kansas	Roy Williams	Big Eight	26-4	At-Large
#3	Arizona	Lute Olson	Pac-10	24-6	At-Large
#4	Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	Big East	24-8	At-Large
#5	Memphis	Larry Finch	Conference USA	22-7	At-Large
#6	Iowa	Tom Davis	Big Ten	22-8	At-Large
#7	Maryland	Gary Williams	ACC	17-12	At-Large
#8	Georgia	Tubby Smith	SEC	19-9	At-Large
#9	Clemson	Rick Barnes	ACC	18-10	At-Large
#10	Santa Clara	Dick Davey	West Coast	19-8	At-Large
#11	George Washington	Mike Jarvis	Atlantic 10	21-7	At-Large
#12	Drexel	Bill Herrion	NAC	26-3	Automatic
#13	Montana State	Mick Durham	Big Sky	21-8	Automatic
#14	Valparaiso	Homer Drew	Mid-Continent	21-10	Automatic
#15	South Carolina State	Cy Alexander	MEAC	22-7	Automatic
#16	Western Carolina	Phil Hopkins	Southern	17-12	Automatic

Bracket

(* - Denotes overtime)

East Regional - Atlanta, Georgia

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional Semifinals			Regional Finals

1	Massachusetts	92

16	Central Florida	70
			1	Massachusetts	79
Providence
			9	Stanford	74
8	Bradley	58

9	Stanford	66
						1	Massachusetts	79

						12	Arkansas	63
5	Penn State	80

12	Arkansas	86
			12	Arkansas	65
Providence
			4	Marquette	56
4	Marquette	68

13	Monmouth	44
									1	Massachusetts	86

									2	Georgetown	62
6	North Carolina	83

11	New Orleans	62
			6	North Carolina	73
Richmond
			3	Texas Tech	92
3	Texas Tech	74

14	Northern Illinois	73
						3	Texas Tech	90

						2	Georgetown	98
7	New Mexico	69

10	Kansas State	48
			7	New Mexico	65
Richmond
			2	Georgetown	75
2	Georgetown	93

15	Mississippi Valley State	56

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Saturday, March 23

box score

#1 Massachusetts Minutemen 86, #2 Georgetown Hoyas 62
Pts: M.Camby - 22 Rebs: D. Bright, M. Camby - 7 Asts: C. Travieso - 6		Pts: A. Iverson - 23 Rebs: J. Williams - 8 Asts: J. Touomou, J. Williams, O. Harrington - 2 Halftime Score: Massachusetts, 38-34

Georgia Dome - Atlanta, GA

Midwest Regional - Minneapolis, Minnesota

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional Semifinals			Regional Finals

1	Kentucky	110

16	San Jose State	72
			1	Kentucky	84
Dallas
			9	Virginia Tech	60
8	UW–Green Bay	49

9	Virginia Tech	61
						1	Kentucky	101

						4	Utah	70
5	Iowa State	74

12	California	64
			5	Iowa State	67
Dallas
			4	Utah	73
4	Utah	72

13	Canisius	43
									1	Kentucky	83

									2	Wake Forest	64
6	Louisville	82

11	Tulsa	80*
			6	Louisville	68
Milwaukee
			3	Villanova	64
3	Villanova	92

14	Portland	58
						6	Louisville	59

						2	Wake Forest	60
7	Michigan	76

10	Texas	80
			10	Texas	62
Milwaukee
			2	Wake Forest	65
2	Wake Forest	64

15	Northeast Louisiana	50

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Saturday, March 23

box score

#1 Kentucky Wildcats 83, #2 Wake Forest Demon Deacons 84
Pts: T. Delk - 25 Rebs: A. Walker - 6 Asts: A. Epps - 6		Pts: S. Goolsby, T. Duncan - 14 Rebs: T. Duncan - 16 Asts: T. Duncan - 6 Halftime Score: Kentucky, 38-19

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome - Minneapolis, MN

Southeast Regional - Lexington, Kentucky

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional Semifinals			Regional Finals

1	Connecticut	68

16	Colgate	59
			1	Connecticut	95
Indianapolis
			9	Eastern Michigan	81
8	Duke	60

9	Eastern Michigan	75
						1	Connecticut	55

						5	Mississippi State	60
5	Mississippi State	58

12	Virginia Commonwealth	51
			5	Mississippi State	63
Indianapolis
			13	Princeton	41
4	UCLA	41

13	Princeton	43
									5	Mississippi State	73

									2	Cincinnati	63
6	Indiana	51

11	Boston College	64
			11	Boston College	89
Orlando
			3	Georgia Tech	103
3	Georgia Tech	90

14	Austin Peay	79
						3	Georgia Tech	70

						2	Cincinnati	87
7	Temple	61

10	Oklahoma	43
			7	Temple	65
Orlando
			2	Cincinnati	78
2	Cincinnati	66

15	UNC Greensboro	61

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Sunday, March 24

box score

#5 Mississippi State Bulldogs 73, #2 Cincinnati Bearcats 63
Pts: D. Jones - 23 Rebs: D. Jones - 13 Asts: D. Wilson - 6		Pts: D. Fortson - 24 Rebs: D. Fortson - 13 Asts: K. Legree - 4 Halftime Score: Mississippi State, 37-29

Rupp Arena - Lexington, KY

West Regional - Denver, Colorado

First round			Quarter-finals			Regional Semifinals			Regional Finals

1	Purdue	73

16	Western Carolina	71
			1	Purdue	69
Albuquerque
			8	Georgia	76
8	Georgia	81

9	Clemson	74
						8	Georgia	81

						4	Syracuse	83*
5	Memphis	63

12	Drexel	75
			12	Drexel	58
Albuquerque
			4	Syracuse	69
4	Syracuse	88

13	Montana State	55
									4	Syracuse	60

									2	Kansas	57
6	Iowa	81

11	George Washington	79
			6	Iowa	73
Tempe
			3	Arizona	87
3	Arizona	90

14	Valparaiso	51
						3	Arizona	80

						2	Kansas	83
7	Maryland	79

10	Santa Clara	91
			10	Santa Clara	51
Tempe
			2	Kansas	76
2	Kansas	92

15	South Carolina State	54

Regional Final Summary

CBS

Sunday, March 24

box score

#4 Syracuse Orangemen 60, #2 Kansas Jayhawks 57
Pts: J. Wallace, O. Hill - 15 Rebs: J. Wallace - 9 Asts: L. Sims - 4		Pts: J. Vaughn - 21 Rebs: R. LaFrentz - 9 Asts: J. Haase - 6 Halftime Score: Syracuse, 35-26

McNichols Sports Arena - Denver, CO

Final Four at East Rutherford, New Jersey

National Semifinals			National Championship Game


E1	Massachusetts	74

M1	Kentucky	81
			M1	Kentucky	76

			W4	Syracuse	67
SE5	Mississippi State	69

W4	Syracuse	77

Game Summaries

CBS

Saturday, March 30

box score

#1 Kentucky Wildcats 81, #1 Massachusetts Minutemen 74
Pts: R. Childress - 20 Rebs: W. McCarty - 10 ^[3] Asts: A. Epps, A. Walker, D. Anderson, W. McCarty-4		Pts: M. Camby - 25 Rebs: D. Bright - 9 Asts: E. Padilla - 12 Halftime Score: Wake Forest 36-28

Continental Airlines Arena - East Rutherford, NJ

CBS

Saturday, March 30

box score

#4 Syracuse Orangemen 77, #5 Mississippi State Bulldogs 69
Pts: J. Wallace - 21 Rebs: T. Burgan - 7 Asts: L. Siims - 9		Pts: D. Wilson - 20 Rebs: E. Dampier - 14 Asts: M. Bullard - 8 Halftime Score: 36-36

Continental Airlines Arena - East Rutherford, NJ

National Championship

CBS

Monday, April, 1

Box score

#1 Kentucky Wildcats 76, #4 Syracuse Orangemen 67
Pts: T. Delk - 24 Rebs: A. Walker - 9 Asts: A. Epps - 7		Pts: J. Wallace - 29 Rebs: J. Wallace, O. Hill - 10 Asts: L. Sims - 7 Halftime Score: Wake Forest, 42-33

Continental Airlines Arena - East Rutherford, NJ

Announcers

References

Template:1996 Wake Forest men's basketball navbox

[1] ttp://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/prep-basketball-boys-preview-mt-carmel/article_15f6fecb-1ce2-552f-959d-9149b82ac8a9.html

[2] ttp://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/09/sports/umass-and-uconn-lose-96-honors.html

[3] ttp://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/statistics/Games/19960330Massachusetts.html

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
Tournaments	1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Structure	Selection process Opening Round Elite Eight Final Four National Championship Game
Venues	Venues
Champions & awards	Champions Most Outstanding Player
Media & culture	Bracketology Broadcasting Tournament Final Four March Madness pools "One Shining Moment"
Records & statistics	All-time team records Bids by school Bids by school and conference Consecutive appearances Final Four appearances by school Final Four participants Final Four appearances by coach Upsets

1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

Contents

Locations

First and Second Rounds

Regionals

Final Four

Teams

Bracket

East Regional - Atlanta, Georgia

Regional Final Summary

Midwest Regional - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Regional Final Summary

Southeast Regional - Lexington, Kentucky

Regional Final Summary

West Regional - Denver, Colorado

Regional Final Summary

Final Four at East Rutherford, New Jersey

Game Summaries

National Championship

Announcers

References

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