| Year: | 1996 |
| Teams: | 64 |
| Finalfourarena: | Continental Airlines Arena |
| Finalfourcity: | East Rutherford, New Jersey |
| Champions: | Kentucky Wildcats |
| Titlecount: | 6th |
| Champgamecount: | 8th |
| Champffcount: | 11th |
| Runnerup: | Syracuse Orangemen |
| Gamecount: | 2nd |
| Runnerffcount: | 3rd |
| Semifinal1: | UMass Minutemen (Vacated) |
| Finalfourcount: | 1st |
| Semifinal2: | Mississippi State Bulldogs |
| Finalfourcount2: | 1st |
| Coach: | Rick Pitino |
| Coachcount: | 1st |
| Mop: | Tony Delk |
| Mopteam: | Kentucky |
| Attendance: | 631,834 |
| Topscorer: | John Wallace |
| Topscorerteam: | Syracuse |
| Points: | 29 |
The 1996 NCAA Division I men's 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 Meadowlands Arena) 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:
The Final Four consisted of Kentucky, making its first appearance in the Final Four since 1993 and eleventh overall, Massachusetts, making its first ever appearance in the Final Four, Syracuse, making its third appearance in the Final Four and first since 1987, and Mississippi State, also making its first appearance.
Kentucky won its 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.
Massachusetts, coached by John Calipari, was later stripped of its wins, including the UMass Minutemen's Final Four appearance, by the NCAA because UMass star Marcus Camby had accepted illegal gifts from agents. Connecticut, coached by Jim Calhoun, was additionally punished monetarily due to players accepting illegal gifts from agents.[1]
The 1996 tournament was the last to feature teams from the Big Eight and Southwest Conferences; later that year the two would form the Big 12 Conference. As of 2022 they are the last Division I conferences to disband and/or merge after sending teams to the NCAA tournament.
The following are the sites that were selected to host each round of the 1996 tournament:
First and Second Rounds
Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)
National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)
There were 30 automatic bids awarded to the tournament - of these, 27 were given to the winners of their conference's tournament, while three were awarded to the team with the best regular-season record in their conference (Big Ten, Ivy League and Pac-10).
Two conferences, the American West Conference and Conference USA, did not receive automatic bids to the tournament.[2]
Four conference champions made their first NCAA tournament appearances: Monmouth (NEC), UNC Greensboro (Big South), Valparaiso (Mid-Continent), and Western Carolina (Southern).
| Conference | Team | Appearance | Last bid | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ACC | Wake Forest | 14th | 1995 | |
| Atlantic 10 | UMass (vacated) | – | 1995 | |
| Big East | Connecticut (vacated) | – | 1995 | |
| Big Eight | Iowa State | 9th | 1995 | |
| Big Sky | Montana State | 3rd | 1986 | |
| Big South | UNC Greensboro | 1st | ||
| Big Ten | Purdue (vacated) | – | 1995 | |
| Big West | San Jose State | 3rd | 1980 | |
| CAA | VCU | 6th | 1985 | |
| Ivy League | Princeton | 19th | 1992 | |
| MAAC | Canisius | 4th | 1957 | |
| MAC | Eastern Michigan | 3rd | 1991 | |
| MCC | Northern Illinois | 3rd | 1991 | |
| MEAC | South Carolina State | 2nd | 1989 | |
| Mid-Continent | Valparaiso | 1st | ||
| Missouri Valley | Tulsa | 9th | 1995 | |
| NAC | Drexel | 4th | 1995 | |
| NEC | Monmouth | 1st | ||
| Ohio Valley | Austin Peay | 4th | 1987 | |
| Pac-10 | UCLA | 31st | 1995 | |
| Patriot | Colgate | 2nd | 1995 | |
| SEC | Mississippi State | 4th | 1995 | |
| Southern | Western Carolina | 1st | ||
| Southland | Northeast Louisiana | 7th | 1993 | |
| Sun Belt | New Orleans | 4th | 1993 | |
| SWAC | Mississippi Valley State | 3rd | 1992 | |
| SWC | Texas Tech (vacated) | – | 1993 | |
| TAAC | UCF | 2nd | 1994 | |
| WAC | New Mexico | 7th | 1994 | |
| West Coast | Portland | 2nd | 1959 |
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See main article: 1996 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game.
Note: During the Midwest Regional Final in Minneapolis; sideline reporter Michele Tafoya temporarily substituted for Sean McDonough in the play-by-play booth when McDonough became ill; calling about 10 minutes of the first half before McDonough felt well enough to resume play-by-play; in the process making her the first woman to call part of an NCAA Men's Division I Tournament game.