Arizona Wildcats 1996-1997 Retro Shorts (Home) Crimson Indiana struggled early on in

Indiana struggled early on in the season losing three of their final four non-conference games

with Michigan prevailing 81-78 and punching their ticket to their second straight National Championship game

Cincinnati Bearcats Guard

But the hype centered on a star freshman point guard from Coney Island

Garment dye crew

Arizona Wildcats 1996-1997 Retro Shorts (Home) Crimson Indiana struggled early on inLute Olson's 1996 1997 Arizona Wildcats team was loaded with 5 future NBA players. The biggest addition to the U of A program was freshman phenom, Mike Bibby. Bibby teamed with Miles Simon to give Arizona the best 1 2 backcourt punch in the nation. Add Jason Terry, Michael Dickerson and AJ Bramlett to the mix and you start to understand why expectations were high in Tucson. A win over #7 UNC to start the season and another win over #3 Utah was a sign