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NCAA Basketball Champions in 1994
The 1994 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men’s NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1994, and ended with the championship game on April 4 in Charlotte, North Carolina, played at Charlotte Coliseum. A total of 63 games were played.
The Final Four consisted of Arkansas, making their fifth trip and first since 1990, Arizona, making their second-ever trip and first since 1988, Florida, making their first-ever trip, and Duke, making their sixth trip in the last seven tournaments.
In the national championship game, Arkansas defeated Duke by a score of 76–72 and won their first-ever national championship.
Corliss Williamson of Arkansas was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
Bill Clinton, former governor of Arkansas and the then President, was in attendance for the Final Four, as well as the regionals that were held in Dallas the previous week. (Clinton was already scheduled to be in Dallas for the wedding of his brother Roger and added the basketball games to his plans.)
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Razorback – Sidney Moncrief
Moncrief, Marvin Delph of Conway, Arkansas, and Ron Brewer of Fort Smith, Arkansas (“The Triplets”), along with head coach Eddie Sutton and assistant coach Gene Keady, resurrected the University of Arkansas basketball program in the 1970s from decades of modest success and disinterest and helped lay the foundation for what became one of the country’s premier college basketball programs through the mid-1990s. The Triplets led the Razorbacks to the SWC championship and a Final Four appearance in 1978. Moncrief’s leadership on the court and electrifying play renewed interest in the Razorback program and ushered in the winning tradition in the Arkansas basketball program. His jersey was retired not long after he graduated from school and went on to the NBA, and is one of only two, along with Corliss Williamson. Moncrief was the school’s all-time leading scorer until Todd Day broke his record in 1992. On November 10, 2014, Moncrief was inducted into the Southwest Conference Hall of Fame. On February 7, 2015, Moncrief was honored by Arkansas when his name was put on a banner that was hung in Bud Walton Arena.
In 1909, the football team finished a 7–0 season, allowing only 18 points on defense and scoring 186 points on offense. College Football Hall of Fame coach Hugo Bezdek proclaimed his team played “like a wild band of razorback hogs”. The name proved so popular that it was changed for the 1910 season. The tradition of calling the hogs, “Woo, Pig! Sooie” was added in the 1920s.
College Sports Established
1915
Location
Fayetteville, Arkansas
College Name
University of Arkansas
Collegiate History
1973 – Present / NCAA Division 1
1921 – 1973 / University Division of the NCAA
1915 – 1921 / Athletic Association of the United States
Conference History
1991 – Present / SEC Conference
1915 – 1991 / Southern Conference
Nickname
Razorbacks – Pre-1910, the team was known as the “Cardinal,” but in 1909, football coach Hugo Bezdek is quoted as saying his team played like “a wild band of Razorback hogs.”
The name caught on, and in 1910, it became official.
NCAA Championships
Baseball 0
Men’s Basketball 1
1994
Women’s Basketball 0
Football 0
Soccer 0
