1996 · Men's Basketball · Season
Four wins that carried State to the Final Four
An SEC Tournament title became the launchpad for the deepest men's basketball run in Mississippi State history.
NCAA Tournament field
NCAA TournamentIndianapolis, Lexington and East Rutherford
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Go back to
the moment.
The official reunion feature retraces the wins over VCU, Princeton, UConn and Cincinnati that carried State to its first men's Final Four.
↗Open the Final Four retrospectiveWhy it lives
Not just what happened.
Why it stayed with us.
State beat VCU, Princeton, No. 3 UConn and No. 7 Cincinnati to reach the program's first Final Four. The Bulldogs finished 26–8 after a national semifinal loss to Syracuse.
Inside the record
The sequence.
New Orleans sends a warning
State defeated No. 1 Kentucky 84–73 to win the SEC Tournament championship.
UConn goes down
The Bulldogs earned a 60–55 regional semifinal win over the third-ranked Huskies.
A net comes home
A 73–63 victory over Cincinnati booked Mississippi State's first trip to the Final Four.
Source dossier
See the record.
Core facts in this exhibit were checked against the official sources below on July 18, 2026.