1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

1996 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
1996 Final Four logo
Teams	64
Finals site	Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey
Champions	Kentucky (6th title)
Runner-up	Syracuse (2nd title game)
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 two 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, coached by Rick Pitino, won the national title with a 76–67 victory in the final game over Syracuse, coached by Jim Boeheim. 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 clearly 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. It should also be noted that Connecticut was the presumed #1 overall seed that season as they won the Big East conference tournament and entered the tournament with two losses; Kentucky also entered the tournament with two losses but lost in the SEC Conference Tournament final.

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.

Locations

First and Second Rounds

• Albuquerque, New Mexico (University Arena)
• Dallas, Texas (Reunion Arena)
• Indianapolis, Indiana (RCA Dome)
• Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Bradley Center)
• Orlando, Florida (Orlando Arena)
• Providence, Rhode Island (Providence Civic Center)
• Richmond, Virginia (Richmond Coliseum)
• Tempe, Arizona (Arizona State University Activity Center)

Later Rounds

Region	Site
East	Atlanta, Georgia (Georgia Dome)
Midwest	Minneapolis, Minnesota (Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome)
Southeast	Lexington, Kentucky (Rupp Arena)
West	Denver, Colorado (McNichols Sports Arena)
Finals	East Rutherford, New Jersey (Continental Airlines Arena)

Teams

Region	Seed	Team	Coach	Finished	Final Opponent	Score
East
East	1	Massachusetts	John Calipari	National Semifinals	1 Kentucky	L 81-74
East	2	Georgetown	John Thompson	Regional Runner-up	1 Massachusetts	L 86-62
East	3	Texas Tech	James Dickey	Sweet Sixteen	2 Georgetown	L 98-90
East	4	Marquette	Mike Deane	Round of 32	12 Arkansas	L 65-56
East	5	Penn State	Jerry Dunn	Round of 64	12 Arkansas	L 86-80
East	6	North Carolina	Dean Smith	Round of 32	3 Texas Tech	L 92-73
East	7	New Mexico	Dave Bliss	Round of 32	2 Georgetown	L 73-62
East	8	Bradley	Jim Molinari	Round of 64	9 Stanford	L 66-58
East	9	Stanford	Mike Montgomery	Round of 32	1 Massachusetts	L 79-74
East	10	Kansas State	Tom Asbury	Round of 64	7 New Mexico	L 69-48
East	11	New Orleans	Tic Price	Round of 64	6 North Carolina	L 83-62
East	12	Arkansas	Nolan Richardson	Sweet Sixteen	1 Massachusetts	L 79-63
East	13	Monmouth	Wayne Szoke	Round of 64	4 Marquette	L 68-44
East	14	Northern Illinois	Brian Hammel	Round of 64	3 Texas Tech	L 74-73
East	15	Mississippi Valley State	Lafayette Stribling	Round of 64	2 Georgetown	L 93-56
East	16	Central Florida	Kirk Speraw	Round of 64	1 Massachusetts	L 92-70
Midwest
Midwest	1	Kentucky	Rick Pitino	Champion	4 Syracuse	W 76-67
Midwest	2	Wake Forest	Dave Odom	Regional Runner-up	1 Kentucky	L 83-63
Midwest	3	Villanova	Steve Lappas	Round of 32	6 Louisville	L 68-64
Midwest	4	Utah	Rick Majerus	Sweet Sixteen	1 Kentucky	L 101-70
Midwest	5	Iowa State	Tim Floyd	Round of 32	4 Utah	L 73-67
Midwest	6	Louisville	Denny Crum	Sweet Sixteen	2 Wake Forest	L 60-59
Midwest	7	Michigan	Steve Fisher	Round of 64	10 Texas	L 80-76
Midwest	8	UW–Green Bay	Mike Heideman	Round of 64	9 Virginia Tech	L 61-48
Midwest	9	Virginia Tech	Bill C. Foster	Round of 32	1 Kentucky	L 84-60
Midwest	10	Texas	Tom Penders	Round of 32	2 Wake Forest	L 65-62
Midwest	11	Tulsa	Steve Robinson	Round of 64	6 Louisville	L 82-80
Midwest	12	California	Todd Bozeman	Round of 64	5 Iowa State	L 74-64
Midwest	13	Canisius	John Beilein	Round of 64	4 Utah	L 72-43
Midwest	14	Portland	Rob Chavez	Round of 64	3 Villanova	L 92-58
Midwest	15	Northeast Louisiana	Mike Vining	Round of 64	2 Wake Forest	L 62-50
Midwest	16	San Jose State	Stan Morrison	Round of 64	1 Kentucky	L 110-72
Southeast
Southeast	1	Connecticut	Jim Calhoun	Sweet Sixteen	5 Mississippi State	L 60-55
Southeast	2	Cincinnati	Bob Huggins	Regional Runner-up	5 Mississippi State	L 73-63
Southeast	3	Georgia Tech	Bobby Cremins	Sweet Sixteen	2 Cincinnati	L 87-70
Southeast	4	UCLA	Jim Harrick	Round of 64	13 Princeton	L 43-41
Southeast	5	Mississippi State	Richard Williams	National Semifinals	4 Syracuse	L 77-69
Southeast	6	Indiana	Bob Knight	Round of 64	11 Boston College	L 64-51
Southeast	7	Temple	John Chaney	Round of 32	2 Cincinnati	L 78-65
Southeast	8	Duke	Mike Krzyzewski	Round of 64	9 Eastern Michigan	L 75-60
Southeast	9	Eastern Michigan	Ben Braun	Round of 32	1 Connecticut	L 95-81
Southeast	10	Oklahoma	Kelvin Sampson	Round of 64	7 Temple	L 61-43
Southeast	11	Boston College	Jim O'Brien	Round of 32	3 Georgia Tech	L 103-89
Southeast	12	VCU	Sonny Smith	Round of 64	5 Mississippi State	L 58-51
Southeast	13	Princeton	Pete Carril	Round of 32	5 Mississippi State	L 63-41
Southeast	14	Austin Peay	Dave Loos	Round of 64	3 Georgia Tech	L 90-79
Southeast	15	UNC-Greensboro	Randy Peele	Round of 64	2 Cincinnati	L 66-61
Southeast	16	Colgate	Jack Bruen	Round of 64	1 Connecticut	L 68-59
West
West	1	Purdue	Gene Keady	Round of 32	8 Georgia	L 76-69
West	2	Kansas	Roy Williams	Regional Runner-up	4 Syracuse	L 60-57
West	3	Arizona	Lute Olson	Sweet Sixteen	2 Kansas	L 83-80
West	4	Syracuse	Jim Boeheim	Runner-up	1 Kentucky	L 76-67
West	5	Memphis	Larry Finch	Round of 64	12 Drexel	L 75-63
West	6	Iowa	Tom Davis	Round of 32	3 Arizona	L 87-73
West	7	Maryland	Gary Williams	Round of 64	10 Santa Clara	L 91-79
West	8	Georgia	Tubby Smith	Sweet Sixteen	4 Syracuse	L 83-81
West	9	Clemson	Rick Barnes	Round of 64	8 Georgia	L 81-74
West	10	Santa Clara	Dick Davey	Round of 32	2 Kansas	L 76-51
West	11	George Washington	Mike Jarvis	Round of 64	6 Iowa	L 81-79
West	12	Drexel	Bill Herrion	Round of 32	4 Syracuse	L 69-58
West	13	Montana State	Mick Durham	Round of 64	4 Syracuse	L 88-55
West	14	Valparaiso	Homer Drew	Round of 64	3 Arizona	L 90-51
West	15	South Carolina State	Cy Alexander	Round of 64	2 Kansas	L 92-54
West	16	Western Carolina	Phil Hopkins	Round of 64	1 Purdue	L 73-71

Bracket

East region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Massachusetts	92
	16	Central Florida	70
						1	Massachusetts	79
						9	Stanford	74
	8	Bradley	58
	9	Stanford	66
											1	Massachusetts	79
											12	Arkansas	63
	5	Penn St.	80
	12	Arkansas	86
						12	Arkansas	65
						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
						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 St.	48
						7	New Mexico	65
						2	Georgetown	75
	2	Georgetown	93
	15	Mississippi Valley St.	56

Midwest region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Kentucky	110
	16	San Jose St.	72
						1	Kentucky	84
						9	Virginia Tech	60
	8	UW–Green Bay	49
	9	Virginia Tech	61
											1	Kentucky	101
											4	Utah	70
	5	Iowa St.	74
	12	California	64
						5	Iowa St.	67
						4	Utah	73
	4	Utah	72
	13	Canisius	43
																1	Kentucky	83
															2	Wake Forest	63
	6	Louisville	82
	11	Tulsa	80*
						6	Louisville	68
						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
						2	Wake Forest	65
	2	Wake Forest	64
	15	Northeast Louisiana	50

Southeast region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Connecticut	68
	16	Colgate	59
						1	Connecticut	95
						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
						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
						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
						2	Cincinnati	78
	2	Cincinnati	66
	15	NC-Greensboro	61

West region

	First round					Second round					Regional Semifinals					Regional Finals
	1	Purdue	73
	16	Western Carolina	71
						1	Purdue	69
						8	Georgia	76
	8	Georgia	81
	9	Clemson	74
											8	Georgia	81
											4	Syracuse	83*
	5	Memphis	63
	12	Drexel	75
						12	Drexel	58
						4	Syracuse	69
	4	Syracuse	88
	13	Montana St.	55
																4	Syracuse	60
															2	Kansas	57
	6	Iowa	81
	11	George Washington	79
						6	Iowa	73
						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
						2	Kansas	76
	2	Kansas	92
	15	South Carolina St.	54

Final Four

	National Semifinals					National Championship Game
	E1	Massachusetts	74
	M1	Kentucky	81
						M1	Kentucky	76
						W4	Syracuse	67
	SE5	Mississippi State	69
	W4	Syracuse	77

(*overtime)

Announcers

• Jim Nantz and Billy Packer
• Sean McDonough and Bill Raftery
• Tim Ryan and Al McGuire
• Gus Johnson and Quinn Buckner
• Mike Gorman and George Raveling
• Tim Brando and Derrek Dickey
• Bill Macatee and Dan Bonner