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 Conference USA began play, with 11 original members. It was formed prior to the season by the merger of the Great Midwest Conference and the Metro Conference. Head coach Rick Pitino led the Kentucky Wildcats to their sixth national championship, his first. The American West Conference, Big Eight Conference, and Southwest Conference disbanded at the end of the season.
Pre-season polls The top 25 from the pre-season AP Poll. Associated PressRankingTeam1Kentucky2Kansas3Villanova4UCLA5Georgetown6Connecticut7Massachusetts8Iowa9Mississippi State10Utah11Wake Forest12Louisville13Memphis14Missouri15Maryland16Arkansas17Michigan18Stanford19Virginia20North Carolina21Cincinnati22Virginia Tech23Indiana24Purdue25California
Conference membership changes
These schools joined new conferences for the 1995–96 season.
SchoolFormer conferenceNew conference Great Midwest Conference Conference USA Metro Conference Conference USA Great Midwest Conference Conference USA Great Midwest Conference Atlantic 10 Conference Great Midwest Conference Conference USA Patriot League Atlantic 10 Conference CIAA (D-II) Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference NCAA Division II independent Trans America Athletic Conference Midwestern Collegiate Conference Atlantic 10 Conference Metro Conference Conference USA Great Midwest Conference Conference USA Great Midwest Conference Conference USA NCAA Division I independent Big East Conference Atlantic 10 Conference Big East Conference Great Midwest Conference Conference USA Metro Conference Conference USA Metro Conference Conference USA Big South Conference North Atlantic Conference Metro Conference Conference USA Metro Conference Colonial Athletic Association Metro Conference Atlantic 10 Conference Atlantic 10 Conference Big East Conference NCAA Division II independent NCAA Division I independent Midwestern Collegiate Conference Atlantic 10 Conference
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. Since Penn and Princeton finished tied for the Ivy League regular-season title, the conference staged a one-game playoff between the teams at a neutral site to determine which school received the league's automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Conference tournament winners, with the exception of those of the American West Conference and Conference USA, received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
ConferenceRegular season winnerConference player of the yearConference tournamentTournament venue (City)Tournament winnerAmerican West Conference Cal Poly Ben Larson, Cal Poly 1996 American West Conference men's basketball tournament Matadome(Northridge, California) Southern UtahAtlantic 10 Conference UMass (East)George Washington (West) Virginia Tech (West) Marcus Camby, UMass 1996 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament Philadelphia Civic Center (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) UMassAtlantic Coast Conference Georgia Tech Tim Duncan, Wake Forest 1996 ACC men's basketball tournament Greensboro Coliseum(Greensboro, North Carolina) Wake ForestBig East Conference Connecticut (Big East 6) Georgetown (Big East 7) Ray Allen, Connecticut 1997 Big East men's basketball tournament Madison Square Garden(New York City, New York) ConnecticutBig Eight Conference Kansas Jacque Vaughn, Kansas 1996 Big Eight Conference men's basketball tournament Kemper Arena(Kansas City, Missouri) Iowa StateBig Sky Conference Montana State Jimmy DeGraffenried, Weber StateQuadre Lollis, Montana State 1996 Big Sky Conference men's basketball tournament Brick Breeden Fieldhouse(Bozeman, Montana) Montana StateBig South Conference UNC Greensboro T. L. Latson, Charleston Southern 1996 Big South Conference men's basketball tournament Vines Center(Lynchburg, Virginia) UNC GreensboroBig Ten Conference Purdue Brian Evans, Indiana No TournamentBig West Conference Long Beach State Raimonds Miglinieks, UC Irvine 1997 Big West Conference men's basketball tournament Lawlor Events Center(Reno, Nevada) San Jose StateColonial Athletic Association VCU Bernard Hopkins, VCU 1996 CAA men's basketball tournament Richmond Coliseum(Richmond, Virginia) VCUConference USA Cincinnati (Blue) Tulane (Red) Memphis (White) Danny Fortson, Cincinnati 1996 Conference USA men's basketball tournament Memphis Pyramid(Memphis, Tennessee) CincinnatiIvy League PennPrinceton Ira Bowman, Penn One-game tiebreaker playoff Stabler Arena(Bethlehem, Pennsylvania) PrincetonMetro Atlantic Athletic Conference Fairfield Iona Darrell Barley, Canisius 1996 MAAC men's basketball tournament Knickerbocker Arena(Albany, New York) CanisiusMid-American Conference Eastern Michigan Bonzi Wells, Ball State 1996 MAC men's basketball tournament SeaGate Convention Centre(Toledo, Ohio) Eastern MichiganMid-Continent Conference Valparaiso Anthony Allison, Valparaiso 1996 Mid-Continent Conference men's basketball tournament The MARK of the Quad Cities(Moline, Illinois) ValparaisoMid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coppin State Terquin Mott, Coppin State 1997 MEAC men's basketball tournament Leon County Civic Center(Tallahassee, Florida) South Carolina StateMidwestern Collegiate Conference Green Bay Jeff Nordgaard, Green Bay 1996 MCC men's basketball tournament Nutter Center(Dayton, Ohio) Northern IllinoisMissouri Valley Conference Bradley Anthony Parker, Bradley 1996 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Kiel Center(St. Louis, Missouri) TulsaNorth Atlantic Conference Drexel Malik Rose, Drexel 1996 North Atlantic Conference men's basketball tournament Daskalakis Athletic Center(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) DrexelNortheast Conference Mount St. Mary's Chris McGuthrie, Mount St. Mary's 1996 Northeast Conference men's basketball tournament William T. Boylan Gymnasium(West Long Branch, New Jersey) MonmouthOhio Valley Conference Murray State Marcus Brown, Murray State 1996 Ohio Valley Conference men's basketball tournament Nashville Municipal Auditorium(Nashville, Tennessee) Austin PeayPacific-10 Conference Arizona Shareef Abdur-Rahim, California No TournamentPatriot League ColgateNavy Adonal Foyle, Colgate 1996 Patriot League men's basketball tournament Cotterell Court(Hamilton, New York) ColgateSoutheastern Conference Kentucky (East)Mississippi State (West) Tony Delk, Kentucky 1996 SEC men's basketball tournament Louisiana Superdome(New Orleans, Louisiana) Mississippi StateSouthern Conference Davidson (North)Western Carolina (South) Anquell McCollum, Western Carolina 1996 Southern Conference men's basketball tournament Greensboro Coliseum(Greensboro, North Carolina) Western CarolinaSouthland Conference Louisiana–Monroe Paul Marshall, Louisiana–Monroe 1996 Southland Conference men's basketball tournament Hirsch Memorial Coliseum(Shreveport, Louisiana) Louisiana–MonroeSouthwest Conference Texas Tech Jason Sasser, Texas Tech 1996 Southwest Conference men's basketball tournament Reunion Arena(Dallas, Texas) Texas TechSouthwestern Athletic Conference Jackson StateMississippi Valley State Marcus Mann, Mississippi Valley State 1997 SWAC men's basketball tournament — Mississippi Valley StateSun Belt Conference Little RockNew Orleans Derek Fisher, Little Rock 1996 Sun Belt men's basketball tournament Barton Coliseum(Little Rock, Arkansas) New OrleansTrans America Athletic Conference College of Charleston (East)Samford (West)Southeastern Louisiana (West) Thaddeus Delaney, College of Charleston 1996 TAAC men's basketball tournament Edmunds Center(DeLand, Florida) UCFWest Coast Conference GonzagaSanta Clara Steve Nash, Santa Clara 1996 West Coast Conference men's basketball tournament Toso Pavilion(Santa Clara, California) PortlandWestern Athletic Conference Utah Keith Van Horn, Utah 1996 WAC men's basketball tournament The Pit(Albuquerque, New Mexico) New Mexico
Conference standings
Division I independents
Two schools played as Division I independents. They had no postseason play.
Informal championships ConferenceRegular season winnerMost Valuable PlayerPhiladelphia Big 5 Temple Kerry Kittles, Villanova 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 Kevin Granger TX Southern 27.0 Marcus Mann Miss. Valley St. 13.6 Raimonds Miglinieks UC Irvine 8.5 Pointer Williams McNeese St. 4.4 Marcus Brown Murray St. 26.4 Malik Rose Drexel 13.2 Curtis McCants George Mason 8.3 Johnny Rhodes Maryland 3.7 Bubba Wells Austin Peay 24.4 Adonal Foyle Colgate 12.6 Dan Pogue Campbell 8.0 Roderick Taylor Jackson St. 3.7 Jafonde Williams Hampton 25.7 Tim Duncan Wake Forest 12.3 Pointer Williams McNeese St. 7.4 Rasul Salahuddin Long Beach St. 3.6 Bonzi Wells Ball St. 25.4 Scott Farley Mercer 12.0 Lazarus Sims Syracuse 7.4 Andrell Hoard Northeastern Illinois 3.6 Player School BPG Player School FG% Player School 3FG% Player School FT% Keith Closs C. Connecticut St. 6.4 Quadre Lollis Montana State .675 Mike Derockkis Drexel .477 Mike Dillard Sam Houston St. .926 Adonal Foyle Colgate 5.7 Daniel Watts Nevada .656 Peter Lisicky Penn State .471 Dion Cross Stanford .920 Roy Rogers Alabama 4.9 Link Abrams Centenary .654 Ray Allen Connecticut .466 Roderick Howard Charlotte .903 Jerome James Florida A&M 4.4 Alexander Koul George Washington .642 Keith Veney Marshall .455 Geoff Billet Rutgers .900 Peter Aluma Liberty 3.9 Terquin Mott Coppin St. .638 Tim Gill Oral Roberts .451 Steve Nash Santa Clara .894 Alan Tomidy Marist
Postseason tournaments
NCAA tournament
Final Four – Meadowlands, East Rutherford, New Jersey
National Invitation tournament
Semifinals & finals
Award winners
Consensus All-American teams NCAA Record Book - DIVISION I CONSENSUS ALL-AMERICA SELECTIONS p.6
+ Consensus First Team Player Position Class Team Ray Allen G Junior Connecticut Marcus Camby C Junior Massachusetts Tony Delk G Senior Kentucky Tim Duncan C Junior Wake Forest Allen Iverson G Sophomore Georgetown Kerry Kittles G Senior Villanova
+ Consensus Second Team Player Position Class Team Danny Fortson F Sophomore Cincinnati Keith Van Horn F Junior Utah Jacque Vaughn G Junior Kansas John Wallace F Senior Syracuse Lorenzen Wright F/C Sophomore Memphis
Major player of the year awards Wooden Award: Marcus Camby, Massachusetts Naismith Award: Marcus Camby, Massachusetts Associated Press Player of the Year: Marcus Camby, Massachusetts NABC Player of the Year: Marcus Camby, Massachusetts Oscar Robertson Trophy (USBWA): Marcus Camby, Massachusetts