Kentucky's '96 team named among ESPN's 'Most Dominant Tournament Runs'

The college basketball staff over at the Worldwide Leader needs something to do in these college football months, so ESPN Insider John Gassaway hopped into a time machine for a look at some of the NCAA Tournament’s most dominant runs. Gassaway didn’t need to go too far back to find historic dominance because last season’s UConn Huskies were named among the most dominant teams since 1985, a group that also included your University of Kentucky Wildcats.

For this exercise, ESPN picked the ’96 champs as Kentucky’s best.

“True, UK’s record-setting modern-era margin of victory (129 points across six games) was helped along by a 110-72 win over a No. 16 seed. So be it,” Gassaway writes. “Rick Pitino’s men posted a similar 101-70 victory over no less an opponent than Rick Majerus and Utah. Even considering relatively close seven- and nine-point wins at the Final Four over UMass and Syracuse, the Wildcats known as “The Untouchables” most certainly came by their name honestly.”

The Untouchables share a tie for fifth on the post-1985 list with 2000 Michigan State. 2009 North Carolina is the No. 1 team of the era, in ESPN’s eyes.

See Gassaway’s list here at ESPN+.

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Kentucky Basketball celebrated 1990s dominance

Last season, Kentucky Basketball honored its 1995-96, 1996-97, and 1997-98 teams with a halftime celebration and trophy recognition during the Wildcats’ home game against Tennessee in Rupp Arena. Those three teams reached the Final Four in consecutive seasons, finishing as the ’96 national champion, ’97 national runner-up, and ’98 national champion.

“We had the luxury of playing in front of the best fans in college basketball,” said Tony Delk, the Most Outstanding Player of the 1996 Final Four.