1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball team

1965–66 Texas Western Miners men's basketball
National Championship Game,
W 72–65 vs. Kentucky
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
CoachesNo. 3
APNo. 3
Record28–1
Head coach
Assistant coachMoe Iba (4th season)
Home arenaMemorial Gym
1965–66 NCAA University Division men's basketball independents standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Texas Western   28 1   .966
No. 6 Loyola Chicago   22 3   .880
Oklahoma City   24 5   .828
Providence   22 5   .815
Boston College   21 5   .808
Dayton   23 6   .793
Houston   23 6   .793
Fairfield   19 5   .792
VPI   19 5   .792
Syracuse   22 6   .786
Hardin–Simmons   20 6   .769
Penn State   18 6   .750
Rutgers   17 7   .708
St. Bonaventure   16 7   .696
Army   18 8   .692
DePaul   18 8   .692
St. John's   18 8   .692
Detroit   17 8   .680
Georgetown   16 8   .667
Colorado State   14 8   .636
Villanova   18 11   .621
Butler   16 10   .615
Seattle   16 10   .615
Duquesne   14 9   .609
Miami (FL)   15 11   .577
Denver   14 11   .560
Florida State   14 11   .560
Air Force   14 12   .538
Creighton   14 12   .538
Marquette   14 12   .538
Georgia Tech   13 13   .500
Xavier   13 13   .500
Loyola (LA)   12 12   .500
Centenary   12 14   .462
Utah State   12 14   .462
Niagara   11 13   .458
Holy Cross   10 13   .435
Fordham   10 15   .400
Memphis State   10 15   .400
Navy   7 12   .368
Colgate   8 14   .364
Canisius   7 15   .318
Saint Francis (PA)   8 18   .308
West Texas State   6 17   .261
Portland   6 19   .240
Pittsburgh   5 17   .227
Notre Dame   5 21   .192
Boston University   4 19   .174
New Mexico State   4 22   .154
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1965–66 Texas Western Miners basketball team represented Texas Western College, now the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), led by Hall of Fame head coach Don Haskins. The team won the national championship in 1966, becoming the first team with an all-black starting lineup to do so. The Miners only lost one game, a road loss to Seattle by two points. They won their games by an average of 15.2 points.

The Miners beat Kentucky (an all-white program until 1969) 72–65 in the historic championship game, played on Saturday, March 19, at Cole Field House on the University of Maryland campus in College Park, a suburb of Washington, D.C.

The team was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007 and inspired the book and film Glory Road.