1996 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament
# 1996 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament

The 1996 NCAA Division I lacrosse tournament was the 26th annual tournament hosted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the team champion of men's college lacrosse among its Division I programs, held at the end of the 1996 NCAA Division I men's lacrosse season.

Princeton defeated Virginia in the final, 13–12 in overtime. Jesse Hubbard scored the game-winning goal for Princeton in overtime. This was Princeton's third national championship under Head Coach Bill Tierney.

The championship game was played at Byrd Stadium at the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland, with 22,102 fans in attendance.

## Qualifying

Twelve NCAA Division I college men's lacrosse teams met after having played their way through a regular season, and for some, a conference tournament. No teams made their debut appearance in the Division I lacrosse tournament in 1996.

## Tournament bracket

| First Round | First Round | First Round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 8 | Towson State | 16 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Loyola Maryland | 11 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Loyola Maryland | 11 | 1 | Princeton | 22 | | | | | | |
| | | | 8 | Towson State | 6 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 1 | Princeton | 11 | | | |
| | | | | | | 5 | Syracuse | 9 | | | |
| | | | 4 | North Carolina | 12 | | | | | | |
| | | | 5 | Syracuse | 19 | | | | | | |
| 5 | Syracuse | 12 | 5 | Syracuse | 19 | | | | | | |
| | Army | 3 | | | | | | | | | |
| | Army | 3 | | | | | | | 1 | Princeton | 13 * |
| | | | | | | | | | 3 | Virginia | 12 |
| | Harvard | 15 | | | | | | | | | | 3 | Virginia | 12 |
| 6 | Hofstra | 12 | | | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Hofstra | 12 | 3 | Virginia | 23 | | | | | | |
| | | | | Harvard | 12 | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | 3 | Virginia | 16 | | | |
| | | | | | | 7 | Johns Hopkins | 10 | | | |
| | | | 2 | Maryland | 7 | | | | | | |
| | | | 7 | Johns Hopkins | 9 | | | | | | |
| 7 | Johns Hopkins | 12 | 7 | Johns Hopkins | 9 | | | | | | |
| | Notre Dame | 7 | | | | | | | | | |

* * = Overtime

## All-Tournament Team

* Michael Watson, Virginia (Named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player)
* Jesse Hubbard, Princeton
* David Curry, Virginia
* Casey Powell, Syracuse
* Becket Wolf, Princeton
* Tim Whiteley, Virginia
* Don McDonough, Princeton
* Tommy Smith, Virginia
* Pancho Gutstein, Princeton
* Chris Massey, Princeton
