Record: 28-1

Coach: Don Haskins

Best players: G Bobby Joe Hill (15.0 ppg), F David Lattin (14.0 ppg)

During the regular season: Won their first 23 games, soaring as high as No. 2 nationally. They lost only at Seattle in their final regular-season game.

NCAA history: Claimed the only NCAA men’s Division I title in Texas history after upsetting Kentucky in the final. But to get there, the Miners, now UTEP, needed overtime victories in two earlier tournament games in Lubbock, beating Cincinnati in overtime and Kansas in double overtime.

What makes them special: The sociological ramifications of their victory still resonate today. The Miners started five African-American players against an all-white Kentucky team. The Texas Western players also have been immortalized in their own movie and have been inducted as a team into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Record: 20-14

Coach: Brooks Thompson

Best players: G Devin Gibson (17.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 5.4 apg), G Melvin Johnson (14.9 ppg), F Jeromie Hill (13.4 ppg, 6.6 rpg).

Regular season: The Roadrunners won at Pepperdine and Houston early in the season, but stumbled through a five-game losing streak that dropped them to 6-7. They struggled late, but upset the top three seeds to win the Southland Conference tournament.

NCAA history: In the play-in game in Dayton, UTSA jumped to a 27-point halftime lead and cruised to a 70-61 victory over Alabama State behind 29 points from Johnson. That earned them a shot against No. 1 seed Ohio State, who beat them 75-46 despite 24 points from Gibson.

What makes them special: In their fourth tournament trip, the Roadrunners’ triumph was the school’s first postseason NCAA tournament victory in any sport. Gibson was the only player in the nation who averaged at least 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and 2.5 steals during the season. He broke five UTSA career records during his senior season.