| Mode: | Basketball |
| Year: | 1996–97 |
| Team: | Arizona Wildcats |
| Conference: | Pacific-10 Conference |
| Short Conf: | Pac-10 |
| Coachrank: | 1 |
| Aprank: | 15 |
| Record: | 25–9 |
| Conf Record: | 11–7 |
| Hc Year: | 14th |
| Ac1 Year: | 8th |
| Ac2 Year: | 9th |
| Ac3 Year: | 4th |
| Champion: | NCAA tournament National Champions |
| Bowl Result: | W 84-79OT vs. Kentucky |
The 1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona. The head coach was Lute Olson. The team played its home games in the McKale Center, and was a member of the Pacific-10 Conference.
After going 11–7 in conference play the team was seeded fourth in the Southeast Region of the 1997 NCAA tournament. They went on to win the national championship, the first in program history, defeating three top-seeded teams in the process.
|-!colspan=9 style="background:#; color:white;"| Regular season|-!colspan=9 style="background:#;"| NCAA tournament[1] [2]
See main article: 1996–97 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings.
NCAA Tournament, Champions
| Year | Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 2 | Vancouver Grizzlies | ||
| 1998 | 1 | 14 | Houston Rockets | |
| 1998 | 2 | 42 | Orlando Magic | |
| 1 | 10 | Atlanta Hawks | ||
| 1999 | 2 | 39 | Cleveland Cavaliers | |