1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

1996 NCAA Division I
men's basketball tournament

1996 Final Four logo
Season	1995–96
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) UMass (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Rick Pitino (1st title)
MOP	Tony Delk (Kentucky)
Attendance	631,834
Top scorer	John Wallace (Syracuse) (131 points)
NCAA Division I men's 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 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-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.

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.

Locations

Region	Site	Other Locations
East	Atlanta, Georgia	Providence, Rhode Island, Richmond, Virginia
Midwest	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Dallas, Texas, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Southeast	Lexington, Kentucky	Indianapolis, Indiana, Orlando, Florida
West	Denver, Colorado	Albuquerque, New Mexico, Tempe, Arizona
Finals	East Rutherford, New Jersey

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	Elite Eight	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 UMass	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 UMass	L 92-70
Midwest
Midwest	1	Kentucky	Rick Pitino	Champion	4 Syracuse	W 76-67
Midwest	2	Wake Forest	Dave Odom	Elite Eight	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	Northeastern 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	Elite Eight	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	Virginia Commonwealth	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	Elite Eight	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					Quarter-finals					Sweet Sixteen					Elite Eight
	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	62
						2	Georgetown	73
	2	Georgetown	93
	15	Mississippi Valley St	56

Midwest region

	First round					Quarter-finals					Sweet Sixteen					Elite Eight
	1	Kentucky	110
	16	San Jose St	72
						1	Kentucky	84
						9	Virginia Tech	60
	8	UW-Green Bay	48
	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	62
	15	Northeast Louisiana	50

Southeast region

	First round					Quarter-finals					Sweet Sixteen					Elite Eight
	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 St	60
	5	Mississippi St	58
	12	Virginia Commonwealth	51
						5	Mississippi St	63
						13	Princeton	41
	4	UCLA	41
	13	Princeton	43
																5	Mississippi St	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					Quarter-finals					Sweet Sixteen					Elite Eight
	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 Finals
	1	Massachusetts	74
	1	Kentucky	81
						1	Kentucky	76
						4	Syracuse	67
	5	Mississippi St	69
	4	Syracuse	77

External links

• 1996 NCAA Basketball Tournament on Shrp Sports (source for the bracket)
• HoopsTournament.Net, source for much of the information on this page.
• Kentucky Wildcats 1996 NCAA Basketball Champions Pennant