1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season explained
The 1995–96 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began in November 1995 and concluded with the 64-team 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, whose finals were held at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Kentucky Wildcats earned their sixth national championship by defeating the Syracuse Orangemen 76–67 on April 1, 1996. They were coached by Rick Pitino, and the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player was Kentucky's Tony Delk.
In the 32-team 1996 National Invitation Tournament, the Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the Saint Joseph's Hawks at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Following the season, the 1996 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American Consensus First Team included Ray Allen, Marcus Camby, Tony Delk, Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, and Kerry Kittles.
Season headlines
Pre-season polls
The top 25 from the pre-season AP Poll.
Conference membership changes
These schools joined new conferences for the 1995–96 season.
Regular season
Conferences
Conference winners and tournaments
Twenty-nine conferences concluded their seasons with a single-elimination tournament, with only the Big Ten Conference, Ivy League and Pac-10 Conference choosing not to conduct conference tournaments. Conference tournament winners, with the exception of those of the American West Conference and Conference USA, received an automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
| Conference | Regular
season winner[1] | Conference
player of the year | Conference
tournament | Tournament
venue (City) | Tournament
winner |
|---|
| | Ben Larson, Cal Poly[2] | | Matadome
(Northridge, California) | Southern Utah |
| UMass (East)
George Washington (West)
Virginia Tech (West) | | | Philadelphia Civic Center
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) | UMass |
| | | | Greensboro Coliseum
(Greensboro, North Carolina) | Wake Forest |
| Connecticut (Big East 6)
Georgetown (Big East 7) | | | Madison Square Garden
(New York City, New York) | Connecticut |
| | Jacque Vaughn, Kansas | | Kemper Arena
(Kansas City, Missouri) | Iowa State |
| | | | Brick Breeden Fieldhouse
(Bozeman, Montana) | Montana State |
| | | | Vines Center
(Lynchburg, Virginia) | UNC Greensboro |
| | | No Tournament |
| | | | Lawlor Events Center
(Reno, Nevada) | San Jose State |
| | | | Richmond Coliseum
(Richmond, Virginia) | VCU |
| Cincinnati (Blue)
Tulane (Red)
Memphis (White) | | | Memphis Pyramid
(Memphis, Tennessee) | Cincinnati |
| | | No Tournament |
| | | | Knickerbocker Arena
(Albany, New York) | Canisius |
| | | | SeaGate Convention Centre
(Toledo, Ohio) | Eastern Michigan |
| | | | The MARK of the Quad Cities
(Moline, Illinois) | Valparaiso |
| | | | Leon County Civic Center
(Tallahassee, Florida) | South Carolina State |
| | | | Nutter Center
(Dayton, Ohio) | Northern Illinois |
| | | | Kiel Center
(St. Louis, Missouri) | Tulsa |
| | | | Daskalakis Athletic Center
(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) | Drexel |
| | | | William T. Boylan Gymnasium
(West Long Branch, New Jersey) | Monmouth |
| | | | Nashville Municipal Auditorium
(Nashville, Tennessee) | Austin Peay |
| | | No Tournament |
| | | | Cotterell Court
(Hamilton, New York) | Colgate |
| Kentucky (East)
Mississippi State (West) | | | Louisiana Superdome
(New Orleans, Louisiana) | Mississippi State |
| Davidson (North)
Western Carolina (South) | | | Greensboro Coliseum
(Greensboro, North Carolina) | Western Carolina |
| | | | Hirsch Memorial Coliseum
(Shreveport, Louisiana) | Louisiana–Monroe |
| | | | Reunion Arena
(Dallas, Texas) | Texas Tech |
| | Marcus Mann, Mississippi Valley State | | — | Mississippi Valley State |
| | | | Barton Coliseum
(Little Rock, Arkansas) | New Orleans |
| College of Charleston (East)
Samford (West)
Southeastern Louisiana (West) | | | Edmunds Center
(DeLand, Florida) | UCF |
| | | | Toso Pavilion
(Santa Clara, California) | Portland |
| | | | The Pit
(Albuquerque, New Mexico) | New Mexico | |
Conference standings
Division I independents
Two schools played as Division I independents. They had no postseason play.[3]
Informal championships
For the fifth consecutive season, the Philadelphia Big 5 did not play a full round-robin schedule in which each team met each other team once, a format it had used from its first season of competition in
1955–56 through
the 1990–91 season. Instead, each team played only two games against other Big 5 members, and Temple finished with a 2–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Big 5. The Big 5 did not revive its full round-robin schedule until
the 1999–2000 season.
Statistical leaders
Source for additional stats categories
| | | | | | |
| Player | School | PPG | | Player | School | RPG | | Player | School | APG | | Player | School | SPG |
|---|
| | 27.0 | | | | 13.6 | | | | 8.5 | | | | 4.4 |
| | 26.4 | | | | 13.2 | | | | 8.3 | | | | 3.7 |
| | 24.4 | | | | 12.6 | | | | 8.0 | | | | 3.7 |
| | 25.7 | | | | 12.3 | | Pointer Williams | McNeese St. | 7.4 | | | | 3.6 |
| | 25.4 | | | | 12.0 | | | | 7.4 | | | | 3.6 | |
| | | | | | |
| Player | School | BPG | | Player | School | FG% | | Player | School | 3FG% | | Player | School | FT% |
|---|
| | 6.4 | | | | .675 | | | | .477 | | | | .926 |
| Adonal Foyle | Colgate | 5.7 | | | | .656 | | | | .471 | | | | .920 |
| | 4.9 | | | | .654 | | | | .466 | | | | .903 |
| | 4.4 | | | | .642 | | | | .455 | | | | .900 |
| | 3.9 | | | | .638 | | | | .451 | | | | .894 |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Postseason tournaments
NCAA tournament
See main article: 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
National Invitation tournament
See main article: 1996 National Invitation Tournament.
Semifinals & finals
Award winners
Consensus All-American teams
See main article: 1996 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans. [4]
Major player of the year awards
Major freshman of the year awards
- USBWA Freshman of the Year: No Award Given
Major coach of the year awards
Other major awards
Coaching changes
A number of teams changed coaches during the season and after it ended.
Notes and References
- News: 2001 NCAA Men's Basketball Record Book – Conferences Section. 2001. NCAA. 2009-02-04.
- News: Leef. Ralph. Cal Poly team really turned things around . . . April 3, 1996. 22. Newspapers.com. October 14, 2021.
- Web site: 1995-96 Men's Independent Season Summary . . September 5, 2024.
- http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2012/Awards.pdf NCAA Record Book - DIVISION I CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS
