2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

2011 NCAA Division I
Men's Basketball Tournament

Season	2010–11
Teams	68
Finals site	Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas
Champions	Connecticut Huskies (3rd title, 3rd title game, 4th Final Four)
Runner-up	Butler Bulldogs (2nd title game, 2nd Final Four)
Semifinalists	Kentucky Wildcats (14th Final Four) VCU Rams (1st Final Four)
Winning coach	Jim Calhoun (3rd title)
MOP	Kemba Walker (Connecticut)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments «2010 2012»

The 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was a single-elimination tournament involving 68 teams to determine the national champion of the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The 73rd edition of the NCAA Tournament began on March 15, 2011, and concluded with the championship game on April 4 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. This tournament marked the introduction of the "First Four" round and an expansion of the field of participants from 65 teams to 68. The "South" and "Midwest" regional games were replaced by the monikers "Southeast" and "Southwest" for this tournament, due to the geographical location of New Orleans and San Antonio, respectively.

The Final Four featured no top seeds for the first time since 2006, with the highest remaining seed being West Region winner, #3 Connecticut. For the first time since 2000, a #8 seed advanced to the Final Four as Butler, the national runner-up from the year before, won the Southeast Region. For only the third time ever, a #11 seed advanced to the Final Four as Virginia Commonwealth, one of the "First Four" teams, won the Southwest Region. Those three teams were joined by East Region champion Kentucky, a #4 seed.

Connecticut won its third national championship in the championship game by defeating Butler 53–41.

Upsets ruled the 2011 tournament. The East Region saw its #11 seed, Marquette, advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they were downed by North Carolina. The Southwest Region saw four of its double digit seeds win, as VCU was joined by #12 seed and citymate Richmond, #10 seed Florida State, and #13 seed Morehead State as first round winners. Florida State, VCU, and Richmond all advanced to the Sweet Sixteen from that region, and VCU defeated top-seeded Kansas in the final. Butler and #11 seed Gonzaga advanced from the Southeast Region, with Gonzaga losing in the Round of 32 to BYU.

For the third time in as many appearances, Vanderbilt suffered a defeat to a double digit seed. This time, they were defeated by Richmond as a #5 seed.

The Big East had a record eleven make the tournament (the conference then had 16 total teams). Due to having more than eight teams qualify, it was possible for intra-Big East matchups to occur in the third round. Two of these matchups did occur as Marquette defeated Syracuse in the East while Connecticut defeated Cincinnati in the West. The other Big East teams to qualify were Pittsburgh, who earned the #1 seed in the Southeast Region and were knocked out in the third round by Butler, St. John's, who were the Southeast's #6 seed and were eliminated in their first game by Gonzaga, Louisville, which earned the #4 seed in the Southwest and fell to Morehead State in their first game, Georgetown, who lost to VCU in the first round as a #6 in the Southwest, Notre Dame, the #2 seed in the Southwest who were eliminated by Florida State, Villanova, who were eliminated in an #8 vs #9 matchup against George Mason in the East Region, and West Virginia, the East's #5 seed who lost in the third round to Kentucky.

Northern Colorado, winners of the Big Sky Conference, made its first NCAA Division I tournament.

Tournament procedure[]

For the first time, a total of 68 teams entered the tournament.^[1] Thirty of the thirty-one automatic bids were given to the programs that won their conference tournaments, while the remaining automatic bid went to the Ivy League champion Princeton, as the conference does not hold a tournament. The remaining 37 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. All 68 teams were announced on "Selection Sunday" March 13, 2011.

The Selection Committee ranked the entire field from 1 to 68. The last four at-large teams selected and the four lowest ranked automatic qualifiers played in a "First Four".^[2] The four winners of those games advanced to the main draw of the tournament to play a higher seed. The four lowest ranked teams of the 68 played against each other in a pair of First Four games, with winners advancing to play No. 1 seeds, and the last four at-large teams played in the other two First Four games, with the winners moving on to face the seed they would otherwise be matched up against, as determined by their seed number.

Schedule and venues[]

The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2011 tournament:^[3][4]

First Four

• March 15 and 16
  • University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

Second and Third Rounds

• March 17 and 19
  • Verizon Center, Washington, D.C. (Host: Georgetown University)
  • McKale Center, Tucson, Arizona (Host: University of Arizona)
  • Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado (Host: Mountain West Conference)
  • Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, Florida (Host: University of South Florida)
• March 18 and 20
  • Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, Ohio (Host: Cleveland State University)
  • Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina (Host: University of North Carolina at Charlotte)
  • United Center, Chicago, Illinois (Host: Big Ten Conference)
  • BOK Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma (Host: University of Tulsa)

Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 24 and 26
  • West Regional: Honda Center, Anaheim, California (Host: Big West Conference)
  • Southeast Regional: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana (Host: Tulane University)
• March 25 and 27
  • Southwest Regional: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas (Host: University of Texas at San Antonio)
  • East Regional: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey (Host: Seton Hall University)

National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)

• April 2 and 4
  • Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas (Hosts: Rice University and University of Houston)

Reliant Stadium was the 37th new venue to host the Final Four, marking the fortieth anniversary of the previous Final Four in the city, at the neighboring Astrodome. The tournament saw three new arenas and one new host city. For the first, and as of 2018 only, time, the city of Newark proper hosted tournament games, at the Prudential Center, which was the successor venue to the Meadowlands Arena in nearby East Rutherford. The city of Cleveland hosted games for the first time at Quicken Loans Arena, the downtown home of the Cleveland Cavaliers; the two previous appearances for the city were on the campus of Cleveland State University at the Wolstein Center. The city of Tulsa returned to the tournament for the first time since 1985, hosting at the BOK Center, which had opened in 2008. Previous games in the city had been held at the Mabee Center on the campus of Oral Roberts University. As of 2019, this is the last tournament to feature what is now Amalie Arena, McKale Center, the Prudential Center and the Smoothie King Center (New Orleans Arena); Amalie Arena had been scheduled to host in 2020, but the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Qualified teams[]

2011 qualifying teams
Total teams	68
Automatic bids	31
At-large bids	37
Regional top seeds	Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Duke
Champion	Connecticut
NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
«2010 2012»

This is a list of qualifying teams for the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. A total of 68 teams entered the tournament, an increase of three from the prior season with introduction of the opening round "First Four". Thirty of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which did not conduct a postseason tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining 37 teams were granted at-large bids, which were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. All teams were seeded within their assigned region from 1 to 16, which was disclosed, while the Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 68, which was not disclosed.

Team names used below are consistent with ESPN.com scoreboards and individual team pages on Wikipedia.

Automatic bids[]

Automatic bids to the tournament were granted for winning a conference championship tournament, except for the automatic bid of the Ivy League given to the regular season champion (though Princeton and Harvard were required to break a tie with a one-game playoff). Seeds listed were seeds within the conference tournaments. Runners-up in bold face were given at-large berths.

Automatic bids
Qualifying school	Record (Conf.)		Last app.	Conference regular season	1-Game Playoff Runner-up	Runner-up record (Conf.)
Princeton	25–6 (12–2)		2004	Ivy League	Harvard	23–6 (12–2)
Qualifying school	Record (Conf.)	Seed	Last app.	Conference tournament	Conf. finals runner-up	Runner-up record (Conf.)	Runner-up seed
Duke	30–4 (13–3)	2	2010	ACC	North Carolina	26–7 (14–2)	1
Boston University	21–13 (12–4)	2	2002	America East	Stony Brook	21–13 (12–4)	5
Richmond	27–7 (13–3)	3	2010	Atlantic 10	Dayton	22–13 (7–9)	9
Belmont	30–4 (19–1)	1	2008	Atlantic Sun	North Florida	15–19 (10–10)	6
Kansas	32–2 (14–2)	1	2010	Big 12	Texas	27–7 (13–3)	2
Connecticut	26–9 (9–9)	9	2009	Big East	Louisville	25–9 (12–9)	3
Northern Colorado	21–10 (13–3)	1	Never	Big Sky	Montana	21–10 (12–4)	2
UNC Asheville	19–13 (11–7)	3	2003	Big South	Coastal Carolina	28–5 (16–2)	1
Ohio State	32–2 (16–2)	1	2010	Big Ten	Penn State	19–14 (9–9)	6
UC Santa Barbara	18–13 (8–8)	5	2010	Big West	Long Beach State	22–11 (14–2)	1
Old Dominion	27–6 (14–4)	2	2010	CAA	Virginia Commonwealth	23–11 (12–6)	4
Memphis	25–9 (10–6)	4	2009	C-USA	UTEP	25–9 (11–5)	3
Butler	23–9 (13–5)	2	2010	Horizon	Milwaukee	19–13 (13–5)	1
Saint Peter's	20–13 (11–7)	4	1995	MAAC	Iona	22–11 (13–5)	2
Hampton	24–8 (11–5)	2	2006	MEAC	Morgan State	17–14 (10–6)	4
Akron	23–12 (9–7)	6	2009	Mid-American	Kent State	23–11 (12–4)	1
Indiana State	20–13 (12–6)	3	2001	Missouri Valley	Missouri State	25–8 (15–3)	1
San Diego State	32–2 (14–2)	2	2010	Mountain West	BYU	30–4 (14–2)	1
Long Island	27–5 (16–2)	1	1997	Northeast	Robert Morris	18–14 (12–6)	3
Morehead State	24–9 (13–5)	2	2009	Ohio Valley	Tennessee Tech	20–12 (12–6)	4
Washington	23–10 (11–7)	3	2010	Pac-10	Arizona	27–7 (14–4)	1
Bucknell	25–8 (13–1)	1	2006	Patriot	Lafayette	13–19 (6–8)	6
Kentucky	25–8 (10–6)	East 2	2010	SEC	Florida	26–7 (13–3)	East 1
Wofford	21–12 (14–4)	South 2	2010	Southern	College of Charleston	24–10 (14–4)	South 1
UTSA	19–13 (9–7)	7	2004	Southland	McNeese State	21–11 (11–5)	1
Oakland	25–9 (17–1)	1	2010	Summit	Oral Roberts	19–15 (13–5)	2
Arkansas–Little Rock	19–16 (7–9)	West 5	1990	Sun Belt	North Texas	22–11 (8–8)	West 4
Alabama State	17–17 (11–7)	4	2009	SWAC	Grambling State	12–21 (8–10)	6
Utah State	30–3 (15–1)	1	2010	WAC	Boise State	20–12 (10–6)	2
Gonzaga	24–9 (11–3)	2	2010	West Coast	Saint Mary's	24–8 (11–3)	1

At-large bids[]

Team	Conference	Last appearance	# of appearances
Arizona	Pac-10	2009	29
BYU	MWC	2010	26
Cincinnati	Big East	2005	25
Clemson	ACC	2010	11
Florida	SEC	2010	16
Florida State	ACC	2010	13
George Mason	CAA	2008	6
Georgetown	Big East	2010	27
Georgia	SEC	2008	11
Illinois	Big Ten	2009	29
Kansas State	Big 12	2010	25
Louisville	Big East	2010	37
Marquette	Big East	2010	29
Michigan	Big Ten	2009	22
Michigan State	Big Ten	2010	25
Missouri	Big 12	2010	24
North Carolina	ACC	2009	42
Notre Dame	Big East	2010	31
Penn State	Big Ten	2001	9
Pittsburgh	Big East	2010	23
Purdue	Big Ten	2010	25
St. John's	Big East	2002	28
Syracuse	Big East	2010	34
Temple	Atlantic 10	2010	29
Tennessee	SEC	2010	19
Texas	Big 12	2010	29
Texas A&M	Big 12	2010	12
UAB	Conference USA	2006	14
UCLA	Pac-10	2009	44
UNLV	MWC	2010	18
USC	Pac-10	2009	16
Vanderbilt	SEC	2010	12
VCU	CAA	2009	10
Villanova	Big East	2010	32
West Virginia	Big East	2010	24
Wisconsin	Big Ten	2010	17
Xavier	Atlantic 10	2010	22

Listed by region and seeding[]

East Regional – Newark, New Jersey Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Ohio State Big 10 32–2 Automatic 2 North Carolina ACC 26–7 At-large 3 Syracuse Big East 26–7 At-large 4 Kentucky SEC 25–8 Automatic 5 West Virginia Big East 20–11 At-large 6 Xavier Atlantic 10 24–7 At-large 7 Washington Pac-10 23–10 Automatic 8 George Mason CAA 26–6 At-large 9 Villanova Big East 21–11 At-large 10 Georgia SEC 21–11 At-large 11 Marquette Big East 20–14 At-large 12* UAB C-USA 22–8 At-large Clemson ACC 21–11 At-large 13 Princeton Ivy League 25–6 Automatic 14 Indiana State Missouri Valley 20–13 Automatic 15 Long Island Northeast 27–5 Automatic 16* UTSA Southland 19–13 Automatic Alabama State SWAC 17–17 Automatic

Southeast Regional – New Orleans, Louisiana Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Pittsburgh Big East 27–5 At-large 2 Florida SEC 26–7 At-large 3 BYU MWC 30–4 At-large 4 Wisconsin Big Ten 23–8 At-large 5 Kansas State Big 12 22–10 At-large 6 St. John's Big East 21–11 At-large 7 UCLA Pac-10 22–10 At-large 8 Butler Horizon 23–9 Automatic 9 Old Dominion CAA 27–6 Automatic 10 Michigan State Big 10 19–14 At-large 11 Gonzaga West Coast 24–9 Automatic 12 Utah State WAC 30–3 Automatic 13 Belmont Atlantic Sun 30–4 Automatic 14 Wofford Southern 21–12 Automatic 15 UC Santa Barbara Big West 18–13 Automatic 16* UNC Asheville Big South 19–13 Automatic Arkansas–Little Rock Sun Belt 19–16 Automatic

Southwest Regional – San Antonio, Texas Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Kansas Big 12 32–2 Automatic 2 Notre Dame Big East 26–6 At-large 3 Purdue Big 10 25–7 At-large 4 Louisville Big East 25–9 At-large 5 Vanderbilt SEC 23–10 At-large 6 Georgetown Big East 21–10 At-large 7 Texas A&M Big 12 24–8 At-large 8 UNLV MWC 24–8 At-large 9 Illinois Big 10 19–13 At-large 10 Florida State ACC 21–10 At-large 11* USC Pac-10 19–14 At-large VCU CAA 23–11 At-large 12 Richmond Atlantic 10 27–7 Automatic 13 Morehead State Ohio Valley 24–9 Automatic 14 Saint Peter's MAAC 20–13 Automatic 15 Akron Mid-American 23–12 Automatic 16 Boston University America East 21–13 Automatic

West Regional – Anaheim, California Seed School Conference Record Berth type 1 Duke ACC 30–4 Automatic 2 San Diego State MWC 32–2 Automatic 3 Connecticut Big East 26–9 Automatic 4 Texas Big 12 27–7 At-large 5 Arizona Pac-10 27–7 At-large 6 Cincinnati Big East 25–8 At-large 7 Temple Atlantic 10 25–7 At-large 8 Michigan Big 10 20–13 At-large 9 Tennessee SEC 19–14 At-large 10 Penn State Big 10 19–14 At-large 11 Missouri Big 12 23–10 At-large 12 Memphis C-USA 25–9 Automatic 13 Oakland Summit 25–9 Automatic 14 Bucknell Patriot 25–8 Automatic 15 Northern Colorado Big Sky 21–10 Automatic 16 Hampton MEAC 24–8 Automatic

*See First Four.

Bids by conference[]

Bids	Conference(s)	Schools
11	Big East	Syracuse, West Virginia, Villanova, Marquette, Connecticut, Cincinnati, Notre Dame, Louisville, Georgetown, Pittsburgh, St. John's
7	Big Ten	Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan State
5	SEC	Kentucky, Georgia, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Florida
	Big 12	Texas, Missouri, Kansas, Texas A&M, Kansas State
4	Pac-10	Washington, Arizona, USC, UCLA
	ACC	North Carolina, Duke, Florida State, Clemson
3	Mountain West	San Diego State, UNLV, BYU
	Atlantic 10	Xavier, Temple, Richmond
	CAA	George Mason, VCU, Old Dominion
2	C-USA	UAB, Memphis
1	21 other conferences	See Automatic Bids

Bids by state[]

Bids	State(s)	Schools
5	Pennsylvania	Bucknell, Villanova, Temple, Penn State, Pittsburgh
5	Virginia	Hampton, Old Dominion, Richmond, George Mason, VCU
4	California	San Diego State, UC Santa Barbara, USC, UCLA
4	Indiana	Butler, Indiana State, Notre Dame, Purdue
4	Ohio	Akron, Ohio State, Xavier, Cincinnati
4	Tennessee	Belmont, Memphis, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
3	Kentucky	Kentucky, Morehead State, Louisville
3	Michigan	Oakland, Michigan, Michigan State
3	New York	Long Island, Syracuse, St. John's
3	North Carolina	Duke, UNC Asheville, North Carolina
3	Texas	UTSA, Texas, Texas A&M
2	Alabama	Alabama State, UAB
2	Florida	Florida State, Florida
2	Kansas	Kansas, Kansas State
2	New Jersey	Princeton, St. Peter's
2	South Carolina	Wofford, Clemson
2	Utah	Utah State, BYU
2	Washington	Gonzaga, Washington
2	Wisconsin	Marquette, Wisconsin
1	Arizona	Arizona
1	Arkansas	Arkansas-Little Rock
1	Colorado	Northern Colorado
1	Connecticut	Connecticut
1	Georgia	Georgia
1	Illinois	Illinois
1	Massachusetts	Boston U
1	Missouri	Missouri
1	Nevada	UNLV
1	West Virginia	West Virginia
1	Washington, D.C.	Georgetown

References[]

Bracket[]

* – Denotes overtime period

Unless otherwise noted, all times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−04)

First Four – Dayton, Ohio[]

The First Four games involved eight teams: the four overall lowest-ranked teams, and the four lowest-ranked at-large teams.

All games on truTV. First Four winners enter the second round as their respective seed and in their respective region.

East Regional – Newark, New Jersey[]

	First round March 17–18					Second round March 19–20					Regional semifinals – Sweet 16 March 25					Regional finals – Elite 8 March 27
	1	Ohio State	75
	16	UTSA	46
						1	Ohio State	98
	Cleveland – Fri/Sun
						8	George Mason	66
	8	George Mason	61
	9	Villanova	57
											1	Ohio State	60
											4	Kentucky	62
	5	West Virginia	84
	12	Clemson	76
						5	West Virginia	63
	Tampa – Thu/Sat
						4	Kentucky	71
	4	Kentucky	59
	13	Princeton	57
																4	Kentucky	76
																2	North Carolina	69
	6	Xavier	55
	11	Marquette	66
						11	Marquette	66
	Cleveland – Fri/Sun
						3	Syracuse	62
	3	Syracuse	77
	14	Indiana State	60
											11	Marquette	63
											2	North Carolina	81
	7	Washington	68
	10	Georgia	65
						7	Washington	83
	Charlotte – Fri/Sun
						2	North Carolina	86
	2	North Carolina	102
	15	Long Island	87

Regional Final Summary[]

West Regional – Anaheim, California[]

	First round March 17–18					Second round March 19–20					Regional semifinals March 24					Regional finals March 26
	1	Duke	87
	16	Hampton	45
						1	Duke	73
	Charlotte – Fri/Sun
						8	Michigan	71
	8	Michigan	75
	9	Tennessee	45
											1	Duke	77
											5	Arizona	93
	5	Arizona	77
	12	Memphis	75
						5	Arizona	70
	Tulsa – Fri/Sun
						4	Texas	69
	4	Texas	85
	13	Oakland	81
																5	Arizona	63
																3	Connecticut	65
	6	Cincinnati	78
	11	Missouri	63
						6	Cincinnati	58
	Washington, D.C. – Thu/Sat
						3	Connecticut	69
	3	Connecticut	81
	14	Bucknell	52
											3	Connecticut	74
											2	San Diego State	67
	7	Temple	66
	10	Penn State	64
						7	Temple	64
	Tucson – Thu/Sat
						2	San Diego State	71**
	2	San Diego State	68
	15	Northern Colorado	50

Regional Final Summary[]

Southwest Regional – San Antonio, Texas[]

	First round March 17–18					Second round March 19–20					Regional semifinals March 25					Regional finals March 27
	1	Kansas	72
	16	Boston University	53
						1	Kansas	73
	Tulsa – Fri/Sun
						9	Illinois	59
	8	UNLV	62
	9	Illinois	73
											1	Kansas	77
											12	Richmond	57
	5	Vanderbilt	66
	12	Richmond	69
						12	Richmond	65
	Denver – Thu/Sat
						13	Morehead State	48
	4	Louisville	61
	13	Morehead State	62
																1	Kansas	61
																11	VCU	71
	6	Georgetown	56
	11	VCU	74
						11	VCU	94
	Chicago – Fri/Sun
						3	Purdue	76
	3	Purdue	65
	14	Saint Peter's	43
											11	VCU	72*
											10	Florida State	71
	7	Texas A&M	50
	10	Florida State	57
						10	Florida State	71
	Chicago – Fri/Sun
						2	Notre Dame	57
	2	Notre Dame	69
	15	Akron	56

Regional Final Summary[]

Southeast Regional – New Orleans, Louisiana[]

	First round March 17					Second round March 19					Regional semifinals March 24					Regional finals March 26
	1	Pittsburgh	74
	16	UNC Asheville	51
						1	Pittsburgh	70
	Washington, D.C. – Thu/Sat
						8	Butler	71
	8	Butler	60
	9	Old Dominion	58
											8	Butler	61
											4	Wisconsin	54
	5	Kansas State	73
	12	Utah State	68
						5	Kansas State	65
	Tucson – Thu/Sat
						4	Wisconsin	70
	4	Wisconsin	72
	13	Belmont	58
																8	Butler	74*
																2	Florida	71
	6	St. John's	71
	11	Gonzaga	86
						11	Gonzaga	67
	Denver – Thu/Sat
						3	BYU	89
	3	BYU	74
	14	Wofford	66
											3	BYU	74
											2	Florida	83*
	7	UCLA	78
	10	Michigan State	76
						7	UCLA	65
	Tampa – Thu/Sat
						2	Florida	73
	2	Florida	79
	15	UC Santa Barbara	51

Regional Final Summary[]

Final Four – Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas[]

	National Semifinals April 2					National Championship Game April 4
	E4	Kentucky	55
	W3	Connecticut	56
						W3	Connecticut	53
						SE8	Butler	41
	SW11	VCU	62
	SE8	Butler	70

Game summaries[]

Consisting of #3-seeded Connecticut, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 8 Butler, and No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth (VCU), the Final Four was considered a result of one of the weakest tournament fields in history.^[15][16][17] Regarding the four finalists, there was widespread belief that none of them were among the best teams in the nation.^[18][19] It was the first time in the tournament's history that a No. 1 or a No. 2 seed had failed to reach the final four.^[20] 11th seeded VCU tied a record as the lowest seed to reach the final four. By virtue of their "first four" appearance, VCU became the first team to reach the final four by winning five tournament games.

The first semifinal featured Butler and VCU, with Butler winning 70–62,^[21] despite VCU forward Jamie Skeen leading the scoring with 27 points.

The second semifinal match was between Kentucky and Connecticut. Connecticut had already defeated Kentucky earlier that season 84–67 at the Maui Invitational. This time, Connecticut won in a close game 56–55, led by Kemba Walker with 18 points. Connecticut were noted for their defensive effort, which held Kentucky to 34% shooting and also held Kentucky scoreless for over 5 minutes during a spell in the second half.^[22]

National Championship[]

The National Championship game was between Butler, a mid-major university team that was a surprise finalist in the 2010 tournament, and Connecticut, a basketball powerhouse which had previously won the tournament twice under coach Jim Calhoun but had an average regular season finishing 9th in the Big East Conference before winning The Big East Tournament with five wins in five consecutive days (never before accomplished in NCAA history). The championship game was won by Connecticut 53–41. It was a very defensive contest, with Butler having the fewest points in a championship game since 1949.^[25] Butler led at halftime 22–19, but suffered in the second half from poor shooting, making only 6 of 37 shots in the second half.^[25] Butler's 18.8 percent shooting for the entire game was the lowest ever in the NCAA final. Connecticut contributed to Butler's poor shooting by blocking 10 shots (a championship game record).^[26] Butler was led in scoring by junior guard Shelvin Mack with 13 points, while UConn freshman Jeremy Lamb scored 12 points in the 2nd half.^[27]

The win by Connecticut completed a season-ending 11-game win streak that began with the Big East Tournament.

The game was widely viewed as a poor quality final.^[28][29] In reference to the game's first half of play, CBS analyst Greg Anthony said, "This is the worst half of basketball I've ever seen in a national championship game."^[30]

Record by conference[]

Conference	# of bids	Record	Win %	R32	S16	E8	F4	CG	NC
Big East	11	13–10	.565	7	2	1	1	1	1
Horizon	1	5–1	.833	1	1	1	1	1	0
CAA	3	6–3	.667	2	1	1	1	0
SEC	5	7–5	.583	2	2	2	1	0
ACC	4	8–4	.667	3	3	1	0
Atlantic 10	3	3–3	.500	3	2	1	0
Pac-10	4	5–4	.556	3	1	1	0
Big 12	5	5–5	.500	3	1	1	0
Mountain West	3	4–3	.571	2	2	0
Big Ten	7	7–7	.500	5	2	0
OVC	1	1–1	.500	1	0
WCC	1	1–1	.500	1	0
C-USA	2	0–2	.000	0

• The R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the round of 32 (third round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively.
• The SWAC and Sun Belt Conference each had one representative, eliminated in the first round.
• The America East Conference, Atlantic Sun Conference, Big Sky Conference, Big West Conference, Ivy League, MAAC, MAC, MEAC, MVC, NEC, Patriot League, Southern Conference, Summit League, and WAC each had one representative, eliminated in the second round with a record of 0–1.
• The Big South and Southland each had one representative, eliminated in the second round with a record of 1-1.
• The Big East Conference had a record 11 teams in the tournament, which made intra-Big East matchups possible prior to the Elite Eight. There were two such matchups in the 3rd round, Syracuse vs. Marquette and Connecticut vs. Cincinnati. The two Big East teams to make the Sweet Sixteen beat conference opponents to advance to that round.

Media[]

Television[]

On April 22, 2010, it was announced that the NCAA had reached a new 14-year, US$10.8 billion deal with CBS Sports and Time Warner-owned Turner Sports (by way of TBS, TNT and truTV) for the rights to broadcast the NCAA Tournament from 2011 until 2024, marking the first time every game in the tournament would be telecast on a national basis.

CBS and Turner pooled their resources for the tournament, with members of the NBA on TNT crew joining CBS's established March Madness broadcasters. Coverage will originate from the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City and Turner's Atlanta studios.^[31]

The tournament television ratings report shows the tournament had an average of 10.2 million viewers per game, an increase from the 2005 tournament when it drew an average of 10.6 million (6.4 Nielsen rating). The championship game recorded an 11.7 rating and drew 20.1 million viewers.

TruTV, which up to that point had never aired any live sports programming, saw a surge in carriage deals for its high definition feed with several major providers including AT&T U-verse, Verizon FiOS, Comcast, Charter Communications, Cablevision, Cox Cable and RCN.^[32]

Studio hosts[]

• Greg Gumbel (New York City and Houston) – First Four, Second round, Third round, Regionals, Final Four and National Championship Game
• Ernie Johnson Jr. (New York City and Atlanta) – First Four, Second round, Third round and Regional Semi-Finals
• Matt Winer (Atlanta) – First Four, Second round and Third round

Studio analysts[]

• Greg Anthony (New York City and Houston) – First Four, Second round, Third round, Regionals, Final Four and National Championship Game
• Charles Barkley (New York City and Houston) – First Four, Second round, Third round, Regionals, Final Four and National Championship Game
• Tom Crean (Atlanta) – First Four and Second round
• Seth Davis (Atlanta and Houston) – First Four, Second round, Third round, Regional Semi-Finals, Final Four and National Championship Game
• Tom Izzo (Atlanta) – Regional Semi-Finals
• Phil Martelli (Atlanta) – Third round
• Rick Pitino (New York City) – Third round
• Kenny Smith (New York City and Houston) – First Four, Second round, Third round, Regionals, Final Four and National Championship Game
• Steve Smith (Atlanta) – First Four, Second round, Third round and Regional Semi-Finals
• Jay Wright (New York City) – Regional Finals

Announcing teams[]

• Jim Nantz/Steve Kerr/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson – First Four at Dayton, Ohio; Second and Third round at Charlotte, North Carolina; East Regional at Newark, New Jersey; Final Four at Houston, Texas
  Kerr will join Nantz and Kellogg during the First Four, Final Four, and National Championship games
• Marv Albert/Steve Kerr/Craig Sager – Second and Third round at Tulsa, Oklahoma; Southwest Regional at San Antonio, Texas
• Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Lesley Visser – Second and Third round at Denver, Colorado; West Regional at Anaheim, California
• Gus Johnson/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller/Marty Snider – First Four at Dayton, Ohio; Second and Third round at Cleveland, Ohio; Southeast Regional at New Orleans, Louisiana
  Miller will join Johnson and Elmore during the Regional games
• Kevin Harlan/Reggie Miller/Dan Bonner/Sam Ryan – Second and Third round at Tucson, Arizona
• Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/David Aldridge – Second and Third round at Tampa, Florida
• Tim Brando/Mike Gminski/Lewis Johnson – Second and Third round at Washington, D.C
• Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel/Jaime Maggio – Second and Third round at Chicago, Illinois

Round-by-round game schedule[]

All times Eastern and PM^[33]

Round	CBS	TBS	TNT	TruTV
First Four (Mar. 15 & 16)				6:30 9:00
2nd round (Mar. 17 & 18)	12:00 2:30 7:00 9:30	1:30 4:00 6:45 9:15	2:00 4:30 7:15 9:45	12:40 3:00 7:15 9:55
3rd round (Mar. 19)	12:00 2:30 5:00 7:30	7:00 9:30	6:00 8:00
3rd round (Mar. 20)	12:00 2:30 5:00			7:30
Regional semifinals (Mar. 24 & 25)	7:00 9:30	7:15 9:55
Regional finals (Mar. 26)	4:20 6:55
Regional finals (Mar. 27)	2:10 5:05
National semifinals (Apr. 2)	6:09 9:09
National championship (Apr. 4)	9:00

CBS received the same number of "windows", or time slots, for its tournament coverage as in previous years. However, all games will now be nationally – rather than regionally – televised. The national television broadcasts also allowed for more flexibility in start times. CBS and the Turner networks used the same graphics package and theme music in broadcasting the tournament – the only difference between networks is the logo shown on the score bug. In addition, a banner at the top of the screen displayed the scores of other games along with what network they are being broadcast on. Replays feature all four network logos being shown, and for fair use highlight credits by local television stations and other networks such as ESPN, the Turner network name or CBS Sports, followed by "NCAA" is given as the source. CBS also kept coverage of the Division II final, which is part of the larger contract for this tournament.

Turner Sports aired full-length studio shows before and after each session of play. The pregame show was called Infiniti NCAA Tip-Off and all shows were on TruTV. The postgame show, called Inside March Madness presented by Buick, alternated between TruTV and TBS.^[34]

TruTV had also added coverage of the Reese's College All-Star Game.

Number of games per network[]

• CBS: 26
• TBS: 16
• TruTV: 13
• TNT: 12

Radio[]

Westwood One had live broadcasts of all 67 games. They will be available both on terrestrial and satellite radio outlets, on NCAA.com, and on CBSSports.com. The radio contract was extended in January 2011 for multiple tournaments.^[35]

First Four[]

• Dave Ryan and Alaa Abdelnaby – at Dayton, Ohio

Second and Third round[]

• Scott Graham and Kevin Grevey – Second and Third round at Washington, D.C.
• Dave Sims and Bill Frieder – Second and Third round at Tucson, Arizona
• Ted Robinson and Tom Brennan – Second and Third round at Denver, Colorado
• Gary Cohen and Kyle Macy – Second and Third round at Tampa, Florida
• Kevin Kugler and Pete Gillen – Second and Third round at Cleveland, Ohio
• Kevin Calabro and Will Perdue – Second and Third round at Charlotte, North Carolina
• Wayne Larrivee and John Thompson – Second and Third round at Chicago, Illinois
• Brad Sham and Reid Gettys – Second and Third round at Tulsa, Oklahoma

Regionals[]

• Ian Eagle and John Thompson – East Regional at Newark, New Jersey
• Kevin Kugler and Pete Gillen – Southeast Regional at New Orleans, Louisiana
• Kevin Harlan and Kevin Grevey – Southwest Regional at San Antonio, Texas
• Wayne Larrivee and Bill Frieder – West Regional at Anaheim, California

Final four[]

• Kevin Kugler, John Thompson and Bill Raftery – at Houston, Texas

Internet/other video[]

All games are expected to be streamed at NCAA.com or CBSSports.com, as in the past; with the new rights deal, NCAA.com and the game streaming is now managed by Turner Interactive. The iPhone app which allowed streaming of games on the iPhone in previous years, and had cost about ten dollars, has received two upgrades: it is compatible with iPad, and it is now free of charge.^[36] However, with the CBS-Turner agreement allowing all games in the tournament to be available on a national basis (see above), Mega March Madness, a DirecTV-only service, has been discontinued.

International[]

•  Canada: TSN acquired Canadian rights for the tournament, rights which were previously held by The Score. This is apparently the result of a larger international rights deal between the NCAA and ESPN International (which owns a minority interest in TSN).^[37] TSN had its own studio programming hosted by Dan Shulman and James Cybulski, and game coverage came from CBS and Turner. Unlike the Score, which had whiparound coverage, TSN and TSN2 showed entire games. Sometimes, both channels aired games, but on Friday of the first weekend, no games were shown due to previous programming commitments on both channels. TSN.ca also streamed first-round games to those with Canadian IP addresses.
•  Philippines: Basketball TV planned to broadcast the NCAA Tournament using the American feed.
• Worldwide: The NCAA.com video and audio streams were available with no blackout restrictions anywhere in the world.

See also[]

• 2011 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2011 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2011 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2011 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2011 National Invitation Tournament
• 2011 Women's National Invitation Tournament
• 2011 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2011 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2011 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2011 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2011 College Basketball Invitational
• 2011 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

References[]

External links[]

• "The 11-Game Run That Immortalized Kemba Walker and the 2011 UConn Huskies". SB Nation. March 30, 2016. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021 – via YouTube.