| National championship game | ||||||||||||||||
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| Date | March 31, 1997 | |||||||||||||||
| Venue | RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana | |||||||||||||||
| MVP | Miles Simon, Arizona | |||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Kentucky by 7 | |||||||||||||||
| Referees | Tim Higgins, Ted Valentine, and Tom O'Neil | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 47,028 | |||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | ||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | |||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Nantz (play-by-play) Billy Packer (color) Michele Tafoya and Andrea Joyce (sideline) | |||||||||||||||
The 1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the finals of the 1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and it determined the national champion for the 1996–97 season. The game was played on March 31, 1997, at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana and featured the West Regional Champion and defending national champion, #1-seeded Kentucky versus the Southeast Regional Champion, #4-seeded Arizona.
Arizona defeated Kentucky 84–79 to win their first national championship in school history. Due to Kentucky coming back to win the national championship in 1998, Arizona effectively denied Kentucky a potential three-peat from 1996 to 1998.
This was the final national championship won by the Pac-12 Conference, which folded in 2024.