Utah Utes men's basketball

The Utah Utes men's basketball team, also known as the Runnin' Utes, represents the University of Utah as an NCAA Division I program that plays in the Pac-12 Conference. They play their home games at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. The school has made the NCAA tournament 29 times, which ranks 20th in NCAA history and tied for third most appearances behind UCLA and the University of Arizona in the Western United States. They last made the tournament in 2016. Utah won the NCAA Championship in 1944, defeating Dartmouth College 42–40 for the school's only NCAA basketball championship. However, the school also claims the 1916 AAU National Championship, which was awarded after winning the AAU national tournament. They have also won the NIT once, defeating Kentucky in 1947. In 1998, the Utes played in the NCAA championship game, losing to Kentucky. History Utah began play in 1908, finishing with a record of 3–8. However, by 1916, they had won their first national championship, winning the National AAU Tournament. The team would compete in the tournament two other times, in 1918 and 1919. But it wasn't until 1927 that Utah really began laying the foundation for what would become one of the winningest programs in college basketball. That began with the hiring of Vadal Peterson, who would become the winningest coach in Utah basketball history. Peterson would guide Utah to 6 conference and state championships and reached the ultimate prize in 1944, when the Utes won the national championship. Oddly enough, Utah had turned down a bid to the NCAA tournament because they wanted to play in the NIT. However, after being bounced in the first round by Kentucky, Utah was given a second chance to play in the NCAA tournament. The Arkansas Razorbacks were forced to withdraw after two of their players were badly injured in a car accident. Needing another team to take the Razorbacks' place, the NCAA invited Utah. The Utes accepted and went on to defeat Dartmouth 42–40. Arnie Ferrin was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after scoring 28 points in the final two games. Three years later, Peterson would lead Utah to the more prestigious NIT championship, as they defeated, ironically enough, Kentucky 49–45. Peterson would retire from Utah with a 385–230 (.626) record and is the only coach in Utah history to have won a national championship.