1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team

1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball
National Championship Game,
W 84–79 OT vs. Kentucky
ConferencePacific-10 Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 15
Record25–9 (11–7 Pac-10)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Captains
Home arenaMcKale Center
1996–97 Pacific-10 Conference
men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 7 UCLA 15 3   .833 24 8   .750
No. 21 Stanford 12 6   .667 22 8   .733
California 12 6   .667 23 9   .719
USC 12 6   .667 17 11   .607
No. 15 Arizona 11 7   .611 25 9   .735
Washington 10 8   .556 17 11   .607
Oregon 8 10   .444 17 11   .607
Washington State 5 13   .278 13 17   .433
Oregon State 3 15   .167 7 20   .259
Arizona State 2 16   .111 10 20   .333
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996–97 Arizona Wildcats men's basketball team represented the University of Arizona. The head coach was Lute Olson. The team played its home games in the McKale Center, and was a member of the Pacific-10 Conference.

After going 11–7 in conference play the team was seeded fourth in the Southeast Region of the 1997 NCAA tournament. They went on to win the national championship, the first in program history, defeating three top-seeded teams in the process.