Assistant Coach Mike Sutton, Head Coach Orlando 'Tubby 'Smith, Saul Smith, Cameron Mills, Jeff Sheppard, Wayne Turner, Steve Masiello, Assistant Coach George Felton, Assistant Coach Shawn Finney, Special Assistant Leon Smith, Administrative Assistant Simeon Mars, Equipment Manager Bill Keightley, Ryan Hogan, Heshimu Evans, Scott Padgett, Nazr Mohammed, Jamaal Magloire, Michael Bradley, Myron Anthony, Allen Edwards, Trainer Eddie Jamiel, Strength Coach Tom Boyd.

(1998) Kentucky capped an incredible debut season for coach Tubby Smith by overcoming double-digit deficits in its last three games to win the school's seventh NCAA championship and second in three years. Utah dominated the boards (24 to 6 rebound margin in the first half) and the game until midway through the second half, when the Utes just ran out of gas. Sheppard had 16 points in the final after scoring a career-high 27 in the semis, including some clutch threes down the stretch. Although they were the last two teams to suffer a loss during the season and were both No. 3 seeds, neither Utah nor Stanford was supposed to have the star power to reach the Final Four. The Utes lost Keith Van Horn and the Cardinal lost Brevin Knight after the previous season, but both schools proved to have enough talent remaining for a deep run. Kentucky fell behind by 17 points in the second half but surged back to oust Duke by two in the South Regional final. Stanford trailed upstart Rhode Island (which had upset top seed Kansas in the second round) by six with 59.5 seconds left in the Midwest final, before a furious flurry pushed the Cardinal in front 79-77. North Carolina was taken to overtime by UNC Charlotte before prevailing 93-83 in the second round. This was one of the most competitive tournaments ever. Eight double-digit seeds triumphed in the first round and three others came within three points. There were numerous other last-second shots. The opening-round highlight was 13 seed Valparaiso's hook-and-ladder play to Bryce Drew for a three-pointer at the buzzer to knock out 4 seed Mississippi, a sleeper Final Four pick by some. West Virginia's Jarrod West banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer as the 10 seed Mountaineers upended 2 seed Cincinnati in the West second round. Princeton earned a No. 5 seed, highest ever for an Ivy League team, and took apart UNLV in the first round (including a 20-0 run) 69-57 before bowing to Michigan State 63-56. Utah dismantled defending champion Arizona 76-51 in the West final behind coach Rick Majerus' 66 defense, a triangle-and-two that shadowed All-Americas Mike Bibby and Miles Simon. Point guard Andre Miller had a triple double 18 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists. The Utes then jumped out to a 15-point lead in the first half and held on against North Carolina; Miller again came up huge with 16, 14 and seven. Kentucky's 10-point halftime deficit was the largest ever overcome in a championship game. The Wildcats held Utah to just eight field goals in the second half. Sheppard said "In '96 everyone knew we were going to win it. We had so much talent, it was more of a relief when we won it. This year it's pure joy."







Assistant Coach Delray Brooks, Head Coach Rick Pitino, Allen Edwards, Derek Anderson, Jeff Sheppard, Tony Delk, Anthony Epps, Cameron Mills, Wayne Turner, Associate Coach Jim O’Brien, Assistant Coach Winston Bennett, Equipment Manager Bill Keightley, Administrative Assistant George Barber, Jason Lathrem, Oliver Simmons, Nazr Mohammed, Mark Pope, Walter McCarty, Antoine Walker, Jared Prickett, Ron Mercer, Trainer Eddie Jamiel, Assistant Strength Coach Layne Kaufman, Strength Coach Shaun Brown.

(1996) The Final Four returned to the New York City area for the first time since 1950, and the favorite from Day One emerged victorious. Kentucky coach Rick Pitino liked to tell this story: When the team played in Italy over the summer, Pitino had an audience with the Pope. He leaned over and kissed the Pontiff's ring, which allegedly brought the response, "Oh, you don't have a ring." Kentucky's team was so deep that Pitino let a former high-school All-America (Rodrick Rhodes) transfer out, red shirted a 6'9" veteran (Jared Prickett) and established a junior varsity team. The Wildcats' two losses were to Massachusetts and Mississippi State, but there was no stopping Kentucky come the Final Four. In the title game, the Wildcats forced 24 turnovers and got 24 points (7-for-12 three-pointers) and seven rebounds from Delk and a career-high 20 (8-for-12 FG) from freshman Ron Mercer. No. 19 Mississippi State, coached by former junior high math teacher Richard Williams, beat No. 3 UConn and No. 7 Cincinnati to win the Southeast Region. The Bulldogs were rewarded with Final Four caps that read MISSISSIPPI, without the STATE. No. 15 Syracuse, which finished fourth in the Big East, beat No. 4 Kansas to win the West. Syracuse needed John Wallace's leaning three-pointer with 2.8 seconds left in OT to beat Georgia in the West semifinals. UMass guard Carmelo Travieso fell off the back of the stage during a press conference before the Minutemen's East semi vs. Arkansas. Kentucky's 38.4% shooting in the final was the lowest for a title-game winner in 33 years. Pitino, a UMass alumnus, interrupted his honeymoon to interview to be an assistant coach at Syracuse under Jim Boeheim in 1976 (he took the job). Pitino was on the search committee that recommended John Calipari to UMass in 1988. Calipari jumped to the NBA's New Jersey Nets as coach and president after the season. Forward Marcus Camby also turned pro, leaving behind a trail of shady dealings with two agents that eventually led the NCAA to strike UMass from the tournament records.







Coach Joe Hall, Jay Shidler, Dwane Casey, Kyle Macy, Jack Givens, Tim Stephens, Chris Gettelfinger, Truman Claytor, Assistant Coach Dick Parsons, Assistant Trainer Walt McCombs, Manager Don Sullivan, LaVon Williams, Scott Courts, Mike Phillips, Rick Robey, Chuck Aleksinas, Fred Cowan, James Lee, Assistant Coach Leonard Hamilton, Assistant Coach Joe Dean Jr.

(1978) Number 1 Kentucky handled enormous pressure increased by the death of retired coaching legend Adolph Rupp on Dec. 11, 1977 by winning the title. The Wildcats beat Arkansas when the Razorbacks' two tallest starters both picked up four fouls in the first half, then got the performance of a lifetime from Givens, who scored 41 points (23 in the first half, including Kentucky's final 16) on 18-for-27 shooting and pulled down eight rebounds. "Goose" kept finding a seam in Duke's zone for open jumpers, and the Blue Devils, who started four underclassmen, never adjusted. Givens also had 23 points and nine rebounds in the semis. Arkansas snuck by Cal State-Fullerton 61-58 in the West final to become the first Southwest Conference team in the Final Four since SMU in 1956. Duke, which had finished last in the ACC the previous four seasons, nipped Rhode Island 63-62 in the first round. In an NCAA basketball guide published before the tournament, the capitalized term "Final Four" was officially used for the first time. Bob Bender, the current Washington coach, is the only player to play in a title game for two different schools 1978 Duke and 1976 Indiana. Arkansas coach Eddie Sutton lost to Kentucky in the Final Four, but ended up succeeding Joe B. Hall as Wildcats coach in 1985. Duke captain Jim Spanarkel "Jack Givens played the best game I have ever seen anyone play. I guess we played him on a night we shouldn't have played him."







Coach Adolph Rupp, Adrian Smith, John Crigler, Ed Beck, Don Mills, Johnny Cox, Vernon Hatton, Assistant Coach Harry Lancaster, Student Manager Jay Atkerson, Earl Adkins, Billy Smith, Phil Johnson, Bill Cassady, Lincoln Collinsworth and Harold Ross.

(1958) Not happy with the performance of his players early in the season, Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp said, "They might be pretty good barnyard fiddlers, but we have a Carnegie Hall schedule, and it will take violinists to play that competition." And thus the Wildcats starters an experienced (four seniors, one junior) if anonymous lot became known as the Fiddlin' Five. The tournament committee held Kentucky in such low regard that it had scheduled regional play in Lexington and the Final Four in Louisville, thinking the Wildcats would not even qualify; instead, they reached the final. Rupp's plan was to make Baylor play defense, running John Crigler off multiple screens and constantly feeding him the ball. Baylor picked up three fouls in the first 10 minutes, but Seattle still was able to maintain a 44-38 lead early in the second half. When Baylor picked up his fourth, Seattle coach John Castellani switched to a zone defense, which his team was not used to playing, and the Wildcats took advantage. Baylor averaged 27 points and 18 rebounds for the tournament. No. 18 Seattle had started the season 4-4, and Castellani was twice hanged in effigy in downtown Seattle. Seattle needed a 35-footer from Baylor at the buzzer to beat No. 4 San Francisco in the West semis 69-67. Manhattan (15-8 regular season) upset No. 1 West Virginia (26-1) and sophomore Jerry West 89-84 in the first round. No. 2 Cincinnati lost in the Midwest semis to No. 3 Kansas State 83-80 in overtime after Oscar Robertson missed a free throw that would have won the game in regulation.







Frank Ramsey, Shelby Linville, Bill Spivey, Roger Layne, Lou Tsioropoulos, Read Morgan, Coach Adolph Rupp, Cliff Hagan, C.M. Newton, Walt Hirsch, Paul Lansaw, Dwight Price, Assistant Coach Harry Lancaster, Lindle Castle, Lucian Whitaker, Bobby Watson, Guy Strong, T. Riddle.

(1951) The tournament field expanded for the first time, going to 16 teams for just two seasons. Kansas State led Kentucky 29-27 at the half in a battle of Wildcats, but behind 7-footer Bill Spivey and super sophomores Cliff Hagan and Frank Ramsey, Kentucky held K-State scoreless for eight minutes in the second half and won by 10. Kentucky was tied with St. John's in the East Region semifinals at Madison Square Garden with 5 1/2 minutes remaining, but ran off the last 16 points of the game for a 59-43 win. In the East final, Illinois' Don Sunderlage missed a shot at the buzzer as the Wildcats hung on 76-74. At 21-0, No. 3 Columbia became the first team to take a perfect record into the NCAAs; Illinois sent the Lions home with a 79-71 first-round loss. Spivey, a junior, would not play another game for Kentucky. He left the team after being indicted for perjury in the point-shaving scandal of 1950, although his trial ended in a hung jury.







Coach Adolph Rupp, Jim Line, Cliff Barker, John Stough, Ralph Beard, Joe Hall, Garland Townes, Assistant Coach Harry Lancaster, Dale Barnstable, Walt Hirsch, Wallace Jones, Alex Groza, Bob Henne, Roger Day, Mgr. Humzey Yessin.

(1949) Kentucky was better than ever in winning its second straight title, holding A&M without a field goal for 13 minutes in the second half of a 1 vs. 2 matchup. Groza was also more dominant, scoring 30, 27 and 25 points in his three tournament games. With four starters back from the '48 championship team, the Wildcats rolled through the regular season; the only hiccup was a fluke loss to St. Louis, on a tip of a missed free throw at the buzzer. Oklahoma A&M escaped Wyoming in the first round when, down five, Jack Shelton hit three straight shots the last with four seconds left for a 40-39 win. Kentucky accepted bids to the NIT and NCAA, hoping to win both, but lost in the first round of the NIT to Loyola (Chicago). Two years later, we found out why: Wildcats Groza, Ralph Beard and Dale Barnstable admitted to accepting $1,500 in bribes to throw the NIT contest, and also testified that they shaved points in other games. This forced Kentucky to shut down its program during the '52-53 season.







Coach Adolph Rupp, Johnny Stough, Ralph Beard, Kenneth Rollins, Cliff Barker, Jr, Dale Barnstable, Asst. Coach Harry Lancaster, Manager Humzey Yessin, Garland Townes, Jim Jordan, Joe Holland, Alex Groza, Wallace Jones, Jim Line, Roger Day, Trainer Wilbert Bud Berger.

(1948) The original Fabulous Five thoroughly outclassed everyone, ousting defending champion Holy Cross, which returned most of its players, in the semis and then jumping out to a 13-1 lead and cruising to victory in the final. Baylor tried in vain to work the ball until it got a good shot, but that resulted in six field goal attempts in the first 7 1/2 minutes. The 6'7" Groza scored 17, 23 and 14 points in the tournament. Fellow All-America Ralph Beard had 12 in the final. Kentucky's 36 victories set a record that wasn't surpassed until the 1987 Duke team won 37. Five Wildcats went on to help the U.S. win gold in the 1948 Olympics.