2012 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament

2012 NCAA Division I
Men's Basketball Tournament

Season	2011–12
Teams	68
Finals site	Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, Louisiana
Champions	Kentucky Wildcats (8th title, 11th title game, 15th Final Four)
Runner-up	Kansas Jayhawks (9th title game, 14th Final Four)
Semifinalists	Louisville Cardinals* (vacated) (9th Final Four) Ohio State Buckeyes (11th Final Four)
Winning coach	John Calipari (1st title)
MOP	Anthony Davis (Kentucky)
NCAA Division I Men's Tournaments «2011 2013»

The 2012 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was a single-elimination tournament involving 68 schools playing to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. The 74th edition of the tournament began on March 13, 2012, and concluded with the championship game on April 2 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

The Final Four consisted of Kentucky, making their second appearance in the Final Four under John Calipari, Louisville, making their second appearance under Rick Pitino and first since 2005, Kansas, making their first appearance since winning the 2008 national championship under head coach Bill Self by defeating Calipari's Memphis team, and Ohio State, making their first appearance since their runner-up finish in 2007 and second under coach Thad Matta.

Kentucky defeated Kansas 67-59 to win their first national championship since Tubby Smith led the team there in 1998. This was Calipari's first national championship in four trips to the Final Four, having previously gone there with Kentucky in 2011, Memphis in 2008 and Massachusetts in 1996.

Upsets were once again the story of the tournament in 2012, and for the first time ever two #15 seeds won in the same tournament. In the South Region, #15 Lehigh of the Patriot League defeated #2 Duke. In the West Region, #15 Norfolk State of the MEAC, making their first ever NCAA tournament appearance, defeated #2 Missouri. In addition to this, Ohio won a game as a double digit seed for the second time in four tournaments as the #13 seed Bobcats defeated #4 seed Michigan to advance to the third round of the Midwest Region. A team from the First Four games also won in the Round of 64 for the second consecutive year as South Florida defeated Midwest #5 seed Temple, setting up a #12 vs. #13 matchup that Ohio won.

Virginia Commonwealth, a Final Four team from 2011 as an #11 seed, made the 2012 tournament as a #12 seed and once again made the round of 32 by defeating South #5 seed Wichita State. The South Region saw four double digit seeds win in their opening games, as Colorado and Xavier joined VCU and Lehigh as victors. Xavier advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, where they were defeated by Baylor.

Despite the upsets, all four top seeds advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2009. Three made it to the Elite Eight, as only Michigan State of the West Region lost. Kentucky was the only one to advance to the Final Four as Syracuse and North Carolina lost in their regional finals.

Two teams made their first NCAA tournament appearances in school history: MEAC champion Norfolk State and Summit League champion South Dakota State. Ivy League champion Harvard made its first appearance since 1946.

All four teams from the state of Ohio (Cincinnati, Ohio, Ohio State, and Xavier) made it to the Sweet 16, marking the first time in tournament history any state has been represented by four teams in the round of 16.^[1] This tournament was also the first tournament since 1985 to feature no teams in the Sweet 16 from the Mountain or Pacific Time Zones.

It is also the first tournament ever that both national semifinals and the national championship game were regular season rematches.^[2]

Tournament procedure[]

A total of 68 teams entered the tournament. Thirty out of 31 automatic bids were given to the teams that won their conference tournament. The remaining automatic bid was awarded to the Ivy League regular season champion since they do not hold a conference tournament. The remaining 37 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee on March 11.

Eight teams—the four lowest-seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams—will play in the First Four (the successor to what had been popularly known as "play-in games" through the 2010 tournament). The winners of these games will advance to the main draw of the tournament.

For the first time ever, the Selection Committee publicly disclosed the overall rankings for each team, which are listed below.^[3]

Schedule and venues[]

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2012 tournament:^[4][5]

First Four

• March 13 and 14
  • University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (Host: University of Dayton)

Second and Third Rounds

• March 15 and 17
  • Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon (Host: University of Oregon)
  • University Arena ("The Pit"), Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host: University of New Mexico)
  • Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Host: Duquesne University)
  • KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky (Host: University of Louisville)
• March 16 and 18
  • Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio (Host: Ohio State University)
  • CenturyLink Center Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska (Host: Creighton University)
  • Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee (Host: Ohio Valley Conference)
  • Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (Host: Atlantic Coast Conference)

Regional Semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

• March 22 and 24
  • East Regional, TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts (Host: Boston College)
  • West Regional, US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona (Host: Arizona State University)
• March 23 and 25
  • Midwest Regional, Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri (Host: Saint Louis University)
  • South Regional, Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia (Host: Georgia Institute of Technology)

National Semifinals and Championship (Final Four and Championship)

• March 31 and April 2
  • Mercedes-Benz Superdome (Host: Tulane University)

The Final Four returned to the Superdome for the fifth time overall and first time since before Hurricane Katrina; it is scheduled to host again in 2022. The tournament saw two new arenas in previous host cities. For the first time since 1991, the tournament returned to the city of Louisville at its new KFC Yum! Center, the downtown home of the Louisville Cardinals and successor venue to Freedom Hall. And for the first time in ten years, the city of Pittsburgh hosted the tournament, this time at Consol Energy Center, which replaced the Civic Arena as Pittsburgh's main arena. As of 2018, this is the most recent year hosting for the Dome at America's Center, the Greensboro Coliseum, The Pit and Talking Stick Resort Arena; of these, only the Greensboro Coliseum has been selected thus far for a future site, in 2020.

Automatic qualifiers[]

The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2012 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).

Conference	School	Appearance	Last bid
America East	Vermont	5th	2010
Atlantic 10	St. Bonaventure	6th	2000
ACC	Florida State	14th	2011
Atlantic Sun	Belmont	5th	2011
Big 12	Missouri	25th	2011
Big East	Louisville	38th	2011
Big Sky	Montana	9th	2010
Big South	UNC Asheville	3rd	2011
Big Ten	Michigan State	26th	2011
Big West	Long Beach State	6th	2007
Colonial	VCU	12th	2011
C-USA	Memphis	24th	2011
Horizon	Detroit	6th	1999
Ivy League	Harvard	2nd	1946
MAAC	Loyola (MD)	2nd	1994
MAC	Ohio	12th	2010
MEAC	Norfolk State	1st	Never
Missouri Valley	Creighton	17th	2007
Mountain West	New Mexico	13th	2010
Northeast	Long Island	5th	2011
Ohio Valley	Murray State	15th	2010
Pac-12	Colorado	11th	2003
Patriot	Lehigh	5th	2010
SEC	Vanderbilt	13th	2011
Southern	Davidson	11th	2008
Southland	Lamar	6th	2000
SWAC	Mississippi Valley State	5th	2008
Summit	South Dakota State	1st	Never
Sun Belt	Western Kentucky	22nd	2009
West Coast	Saint Mary's	7th	2010
WAC	New Mexico State	19th	2010

Qualified teams[]

Qualifying teams[]

Team names are those used on CBSsports.com scoreboards and team pages.

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. 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	Regular season second place	Second place record (Conf.)
Harvard	26–4 (12–2)		1946	Ivy League	Penn	19–12 (11–3)
Qualifying school	Record (Conf.)	Seed	Last app.	Conference tournament	Conf. finals runner-up	Runner-up record (Conf.)	Runner-up seed
Florida State	24–9 (12–4)	3	2011	ACC	North Carolina	29–5 (14–2)	1
Vermont	23–11 (13–3)	2	2010	America East	Stony Brook	22–9 (14–2)	1
St. Bonaventure	20–11 (10-6)	4	2000	Atlantic 10	Xavier	21–12 (10–6)	3
Belmont	26–7 (16–2)	1	2011	Atlantic Sun	Florida Gulf Coast	15–17 (18–10)	6
Missouri	30–4 (14–4)	2	2011	Big 12	Baylor	27-7 (12–6)	4
Louisville	26–9 (10–8)	7	2011	Big East	Cincinnati	24–9 (12–6)	4
Montana	25–6 (15–1)	1	2010	Big Sky	Weber State	24–6 (14–2)	2
UNC Asheville	24–9 (16–2)	1	2011	Big South	VMI	17–16 (8–10)	7
Michigan State	27–7 (13–5)	1	2011	Big Ten	Ohio State	27–7 (13–5)	3
Long Beach State	25–8 (15–1)	1	2007	Big West	UC Santa Barbara	20–10 (12–4)	3
VCU	28–6 (15–3)	2	2011	CAA	Drexel	27–6 (16–2)	1
Memphis	26–8 (13–3)	1	2011	C-USA	Marshall	21–13 (9–7)	6
Detroit Mercy	22–13 (11–7)	3	1999	Horizon	Valparaiso	22–11 (14–4)	1
Loyola (MD)	24–8 (13–5)	2	1994	MAAC	Fairfield	19–14 (12–6)	4
Ohio	27–7 (11–5)	3	2010	MAC	Akron	22–11 (13–3)	1
Norfolk State	25–9 (13–3)	2	Never	MEAC	Bethune-Cookman	18–17 (11–5)	4
Creighton	28–5 (14–4)	2	2007	Missouri Valley	Illinois State	20–13 (9–9)	4
New Mexico	27–6 (10–4)	2	2010	Mountain West	San Diego State	26–6 (10–4)	1
LIU-Brooklyn	25–8 (16–2)	1	2011	Northeast	Robert Morris	24–9 (13–5)	3
Murray State	30–1 (15–1)	1	2010	Ohio Valley	Tennessee State	20–12 (11–5)	2
Colorado	22–11 (11–7)	6	2003	Pac-12	Arizona	23-10 (12–6)	4
Lehigh	26–7 (11–3)	2	2010	Patriot	Bucknell	24–8 (12–2)	1
Vanderbilt	24–10 (11–6)	3	2011	SEC	Kentucky	32–2 (16–1)	1
Davidson	25–7 (16–2)	South 1	2008	Southern	Western Carolina	17–17 (8–10)	North 4
Lamar	23–11 (11–5)	3	2000	Southland	McNeese State	17–15 (10–6)	4
South Dakota State	27–7 (15–3)	2	Never	Summit	Western Illinois	18–14 (9–9)	4
Western Kentucky	15–18 (7–9)	East 4	2009	Sun Belt	North Texas	18–14 (9–7)	West 4
Mississippi Valley State	21–12 (17–1)	1	2008	SWAC	Texas Southern	15–18 (15–6)	2
New Mexico State	26–9 (10–4)	2	2010	WAC	Louisiana Tech	18–16 (6–8)	5
Saint Mary's	27–5 (14–2)	1	2010	West Coast	Gonzaga	25–6 (13–3)	2

At-large bids[]

Team	Conference	Last appearance	# of appearances
Alabama	SEC	2006	20
Baylor	Big 12	2011	7
BYU	West Coast	2011	27
California	Pac 12	2010	16
Cincinnati	Big East	2011	26
Colorado State	Mountain West	2003	9
Connecticut	Big East	2011	30
Duke	ACC	2011	36
Florida	SEC	2011	15
Georgetown	Big East	2011	28
Gonzaga	West Coast	2011	15
Indiana	Big Ten	2008	36
Iona	MAAC	2006	8
Iowa State	Big 12	2005	14
Kansas	Big 12	2011	41
Kansas State	Big 12	2011	26
Kentucky	SEC	2011	52
Marquette	Big East	2011	30
Michigan	Big Ten	2011	19
NC State	ACC	2006	21
North Carolina	ACC	2011	43
Notre Dame	Big East	2011	32
Ohio State	Big Ten	2011	24
Purdue	Big Ten	2011	25
Saint Louis	Atlantic 10	2000	7
San Diego State	Mountain West	2011	8
South Florida	Big East	1992	3
Southern Miss	Conference USA	1991	3
Syracuse	Big East	2011	35
Temple	Atlantic 10	2011	30
Texas	Big 12	2011	30
UNLV	Mountain West	2011	19
Virginia	ACC	2007	17
West Virginia	Big East	2011	25
Wichita State	Missouri Valley	2006	9
Wisconsin	Big Ten	2011	18
Xavier	Atlantic 10	2011	23

Listed by region and seeding[]

East Regional – Boston, Massachusetts Seed School Conference Record Berth type Overall rank 1 Syracuse Big East 31–2 At-large 2 2 Ohio State Big Ten 27–7 At-large 7 3 Florida State ACC 24–9 Automatic 11 4 Wisconsin Big Ten 24–9 At-large 14 5 Vanderbilt SEC 24–10 Automatic 18 6 Cincinnati Big East 24–10 At-large 22 7 Gonzaga West Coast 25–6 At-large 27 8 Kansas State Big 12 21–10 At-large 32 9 Southern Miss C-USA 25–8 At-large 35 10 West Virginia Big East 19–13 At-large 38 11 Texas Big 12 20–13 At-large 43 12 Harvard Ivy League 26–4 Automatic 46 13 Montana Big Sky 25–6 Automatic 55 14 St. Bonaventure Atlantic 10 20–11 Automatic 58 15 Loyola MAAC 24–8 Automatic 59 16 UNC Asheville Big South 24–9 Automatic 64

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri Seed School Conference Record Berth type Overall rank 1 North Carolina ACC 29–5 At-large 3 2 Kansas Big 12 27–6 At-large 5 3 Georgetown Big East 23–8 At-large 12 4 Michigan Big Ten 24–9 At-large 13 5 Temple Atlantic 10 24–7 At-large 17 6 San Diego State Mountain West 26–7 At-large 24 7 Saint Mary's West Coast 27–5 Automatic 26 8 Creighton Missouri Valley 28–5 Automatic 29 9 Alabama SEC 21–11 At-large 33 10 Purdue Big Ten 21–12 At-large 37 11 NC State ACC 22–12 At-large 42 12* California Pac-12 24–9 At-large 45 South Florida Big East 20–13 At-large 47 13 Ohio MAC 27–7 Automatic 52 14 Belmont Atlantic Sun 27–7 Automatic 57 15 Detroit Mercy Horizon 22–13 Automatic 61 16* Lamar Southland 23–11 Automatic 65 Vermont America East 23–11 Automatic 66

South Regional – Atlanta, Georgia Seed School Conference Record Berth type Overall rank 1 Kentucky SEC 32–2 At-large 1 2 Duke ACC 27–6 At-large 6 3 Baylor Big 12 27–7 At-large 9 4 Indiana Big Ten 25–8 At-large 15 5 Wichita State Missouri Valley 27–5 At-large 19 6 UNLV Mountain West 26–8 At-large 21 7 Notre Dame Big East 22–11 At-large 25 8 Iowa State Big 12 22–10 At-large 30 9 Connecticut Big East 20–13 At-large 34 10 Xavier Atlantic 10 21–12 At-large 40 11 Colorado Pac-12 23–11 Automatic 44 12 VCU Colonial 28–6 Automatic 49 13 New Mexico State WAC 26–9 Automatic 54 14 South Dakota State Summit 27–7 Automatic 56 15 Lehigh Patriot 26–7 Automatic 60 16* Mississippi Valley State SWAC 21–12 Automatic 67 Western Kentucky Sun Belt 15–18 Automatic 68

West Regional – Phoenix, Arizona Seed School Conference Record Berth type Overall rank 1 Michigan State Big Ten 27–7 Automatic 4 2 Missouri Big 12 30–4 Automatic 8 3 Marquette Big East 25–7 At-large 10 4 Louisville Big East 26–9 Automatic 16 5 New Mexico Mountain West 27–6 Automatic 20 6 Murray State Ohio Valley 30–1 Automatic 23 7 Florida SEC 23–10 At-large 28 8 Memphis C-USA 26–8 Automatic 31 9 Saint Louis Atlantic 10 25–7 At-large 36 10 Virginia ACC 22–9 At-large 39 11 Colorado State Mountain West 20–11 At-large 41 12 Long Beach State Big West 25–8 Automatic 51 13 Davidson Southern 25–7 Automatic 53 14* BYU West Coast 25–8 At-large 48 Iona MAAC 25–7 At-large 50 15 Norfolk State MEAC 25–9 Automatic 62 16 LIU-Brooklyn Northeast 25–8 Automatic 63

*See First Four.

Conferences with multiple bids[]

Bids	Conference	Schools
9	Big East	Cincinnati, Connecticut, Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, South Florida, Syracuse, West Virginia
6	Big Ten	Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin
6	Big 12	Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Texas
5	ACC	Duke, Florida State, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Virginia
4	SEC	Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt
4	Mountain West	Colorado State, New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV
4	Atlantic 10	St. Bonaventure, Saint Louis, Temple, Xavier
3	West Coast	Saint Mary's, Gonzaga, BYU
2	Pac-12	California, Colorado
2	Conference USA	Memphis, Southern Miss
2	MAAC	Iona, Loyola (MD)
2	Missouri Valley	Creighton, Wichita State

All other conferences have only one bid (see Automatic Bids)
NOTE: Teams in bold represent the conference's automatic bid.

Last four teams out[]

The Selection Committee also announced the last four teams out of the tournament as part of the Hardcore Brackets special following announcement of the teams. In order, they were Oral Roberts, Miami (Florida), Nevada, and Drexel. Oral Roberts, Nevada, and Drexel were automatically selected, as regular-season champions, for berths in the National Invitation Tournament, while Miami was also selected for a berth by the NIT Selection Committee.^[6]

Bids by state[]

Bids	State(s)	Schools
5	North Carolina	Davidson, Duke, North Carolina, NC State, UNC Asheville
4	California	California, Long Beach State, Saint Mary's, San Diego State
4	Kentucky	Kentucky, Louisville, Murray State, Western Kentucky
4	New York	Iona, Long Island, St. Bonaventure, Syracuse
4	Ohio	Cincinnati, Ohio, Ohio State, Xavier
3	Florida	Florida, Florida State, South Florida
3	Indiana	Indiana, Notre Dame, Purdue
3	Kansas	Kansas, Kansas State, Wichita State
3	Michigan	Detroit, Michigan, Michigan State
3	Tennessee	Belmont, Memphis, Vanderbilt
3	Texas	Baylor, Lamar, Texas
3	Virginia	Norfolk State, Virginia, VCU
2	Colorado	Colorado, Colorado State
2	Mississippi	Mississippi Valley State, Southern Miss
2	Missouri	Missouri, Saint Louis
2	New Mexico	New Mexico, New Mexico State
2	Pennsylvania	Lehigh, Temple
2	Wisconsin	Marquette, Wisconsin
1	Alabama	Alabama
1	Connecticut	Connecticut
1	Iowa	Iowa State
1	Maryland	Loyola (MD)
1	Massachusetts	Harvard
1	Montana	Montana
1	Nebraska	Creighton
1	Nevada	UNLV
1	South Dakota	South Dakota State
1	Utah	BYU
1	Vermont	Vermont
1	Washington	Gonzaga
1	Washington, D.C.	Georgetown
1	West Virginia	West Virginia

Bracket[]

* – Denotes overtime period

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

First Four – Dayton, Ohio[]

Both games on March 13 saw historic comebacks:

• In the opener, Western Kentucky trailed by 16 points with 4:51 remaining before storming back to win 59–58. It was the largest comeback in the last five minutes of an NCAA tournament game; the previous record was 15 by Illinois against Arizona in the 2005 Elite Eight.^[7]
• In the second game of the night, BYU set a record for the largest comeback in an NCAA tournament game, as they were down by 25 points at one point and came back to beat Iona 78–72. The largest previous deficit overcome in the tournament was 22 points by Duke against Maryland in the 2001 national semifinals.^[8]

In addition, the March 13 session was notable for the attendance of Barack Obama, president of the United States, and David Cameron, prime minister of Great Britain. Cameron was in the U.S. for bilateral political and economic talks with Obama.

South Regional – Atlanta, Georgia[]

	First round March 15–16					Second round March 17–18					Regional semifinals March 23					Regional finals March 25
	1	Kentucky	81
	16	Western Kentucky	66
						1	Kentucky	87
	Louisville – Thu/Sat
						8	Iowa State	71
	8	Iowa State	77
	9	Connecticut	64
											1	Kentucky	102
											4	Indiana	90
	5	Wichita State	59
	12	VCU	62
						12	VCU	61
	Portland – Thu/Sat
						4	Indiana	63
	4	Indiana	79
	13	New Mexico State	66
																1	Kentucky	82
																3	Baylor	70
	6	UNLV	64
	11	Colorado	68
						11	Colorado	63
	Albuquerque – Thu/Sat
						3	Baylor	80
	3	Baylor	68
	14	South Dakota State	60
											3	Baylor	75
											10	Xavier	70
	7	Notre Dame	63
	10	Xavier	67
						10	Xavier	70
	Greensboro – Fri/Sun
						15	Lehigh	58
	2	Duke	70
	15	Lehigh	75

South Regional all-tournament team[]

Regional all-tournament team: Quincy Acy, Baylor; Anthony Davis, Kentucky; Doron Lamb, Kentucky; Christian Watford, Indiana.^[9]

Regional most outstanding player: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky^[9]

West Regional – Phoenix, Arizona[]

	First round March 15–16					Second round March 17–18					Regional semifinals March 22					Regional finals March 24
	1	Michigan State	89
	16	Long Island	67
						1	Michigan State	65
	Columbus – Fri/Sun
						9	Saint Louis	61
	8	Memphis	54
	9	Saint Louis	61
											1	Michigan State	44
											4	Louisville	57
	5	New Mexico	75
	12	Long Beach State	68
						5	New Mexico	56
	Portland – Thu/Sat
						4	Louisville	59
	4	Louisville	69
	13	Davidson	62
																4	Louisville	72
																7	Florida	68
	6	Murray State	58
	11	Colorado State	41
						6	Murray State	53
	Louisville – Thu/Sat
						3	Marquette	62
	3	Marquette	88
	14	BYU	68
											3	Marquette	58
											7	Florida	68
	7	Florida	71
	10	Virginia	45
						7	Florida	84
	Omaha – Fri/Sun
						15	Norfolk State	50
	2	Missouri	84
	15	Norfolk State	86

West Regional all-tournament team[]

Regional all-tournament team: Bradley Beal, Florida; Gorgui Dieng, Louisville; Draymond Green, Michigan State; Peyton Siva, Louisville.^[10]

Regional most outstanding player: Chane Behanan, Louisville^[10]

East Regional – Boston, Massachusetts[]

	First round March 15–16					Second round March 17–18					Regional semifinals March 22					Regional finals March 24
	1	Syracuse	72
	16	UNC Asheville	65
						1	Syracuse	75
	Pittsburgh – Thu/Sat
						8	Kansas State	59
	8	Kansas State	70
	9	Southern Miss	64
											1	Syracuse	64
											4	Wisconsin	63
	5	Vanderbilt	79
	12	Harvard	70
						5	Vanderbilt	57
	Albuquerque – Thu/Sat
						4	Wisconsin	60
	4	Wisconsin	73
	13	Montana	49
																1	Syracuse	70
																2	Ohio State	77
	6	Cincinnati	65
	11	Texas	59
						6	Cincinnati	62
	Nashville – Fri/Sun
						3	Florida State	56
	3	Florida State	66
	14	St. Bonaventure	63
											6	Cincinnati	66
											2	Ohio State	81
	7	Gonzaga	77
	10	West Virginia	54
						7	Gonzaga	66
	Pittsburgh – Thu/Sat
						2	Ohio State	73
	2	Ohio State	78
	15	Loyola (MD)	59

East Regional all-tournament team[]

Regional all-tournament team: Scoop Jardine, Syracuse; Lenzelle Smith, Jr., Ohio State; Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin; Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State.^[11]

Regional most outstanding player: Jared Sullinger, Ohio State ^[11]

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri[]

	First round March 16					Second round March 18					Regional semifinals March 23					Regional finals March 25
	1	North Carolina	77
	16	Vermont	58
						1	North Carolina	87
	Greensboro – Fri/Sun
						8	Creighton	73
	8	Creighton	58
	9	Alabama	57
											1	North Carolina	73
											13	Ohio	65
	5	Temple	44
	12	South Florida	58
						12	South Florida	56
	Nashville – Fri/Sun
						13	Ohio	62
	4	Michigan	60
	13	Ohio	65
																1	North Carolina	67
																2	Kansas	80
	6	San Diego State	65
	11	North Carolina State	79
						11	North Carolina State	66
	Columbus – Fri/Sun
						3	Georgetown	63
	3	Georgetown	74
	14	Belmont	59
											11	North Carolina State	57
											2	Kansas	60
	7	Saint Mary's	69
	10	Purdue	72
						10	Purdue	60
	Omaha – Fri/Sun
						2	Kansas	63
	2	Kansas	65
	15	Detroit	50

Midwest Regional all-tournament team[]

Regional all-tournament team: Walter Offutt, Ohio; Tyshawn Taylor, Kansas; Jeff Withey, Kansas; Tyler Zeller, North Carolina.^[12]

Regional most outstanding player: Thomas Robinson, Kansas ^[12]

Final Four – Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana[]

	National Semifinals March 31					National Championship Game April 2
	S1	Kentucky	69
	W4	Louisville	61
						S1	Kentucky	67
						MW2	Kansas	59
	E2	Ohio State	62
	MW2	Kansas	64

Final Four all-tournament team[]

Final Four all-tournament team:^[13] Anthony Davis, Kentucky; Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky; Doron Lamb, Kentucky; Thomas Robinson, Kansas; Tyshawn Taylor, Kansas

Final Four most outstanding player:^[13] Anthony Davis, Kentucky

Game summaries[]

Final Four[]

National Championship[]

Record by conference[]

Conference	# of Bids	Record	Win %	R64	R32	S16	E8	F4	CG	NC
SEC	4	10–3	.769	4	3	2	2	1	1	1
Big 12	6	10–6	.625	6	4	2	2	1	1	0
Big Ten	6	11–6	.647	6	5	4	1	1	0	–
Big East	9	14–9	.609	9	6	4	2	1	0	–
ACC	5	6–5	.545	5	3	2	1	0	–	–
Atlantic 10	4	3–4	.429	4	2	1	0	–	–	–
MAC	1	2–1	.667	1	1	1	0	–	–	–
Mountain West	4	1–4	.200	4	1	0	–	–	–	–
WCC	3	2–3	.400	3	1	0	–	–	–	–
MVC	2	1–2	.333	2	1	0	–	–	–	–
CAA	1	1–1	.500	1	1	0	–	–	–	–
MEAC	1	1–1	.500	1	1	0	–	–	–	–
OVC	1	1–1	.500	1	1	0	–	–	–	–
Patriot	1	1–1	.500	1	1	0	–	–	–	–
Pac-12	2	1–2	.333	1	1	0	–	–	–	–
C-USA	2	0–2	.000	2	0	–	–	–	–	–
MAAC	2	0–2	.000	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
America East	1	1–1	.500	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
Sun Belt	1	1–1	.500	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
Atlantic Sun	1	0–1	.000	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
Big Sky	1	0–1	.000	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
Big South	1	0–1	.000	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
Big West	1	0–1	.000	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
Horizon	1	0–1	.000	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
Ivy	1	0–1	.000	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
NEC	1	0–1	.000	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
Southern	1	0–1	.000	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
Summit	1	0–1	.000	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
WAC	1	0–1	.000	1	0	–	–	–	–	–
Southland	1	0–1	.000	0	–	–	–	–	–	–
SWAC	1	0–1	.000	0	–	–	–	–	–	–

• The R64, R32, S16, E8, F4, CG, and NC columns indicate how many teams from each conference were in the round of 64 (second round), round of 32 (third round), Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, and national champion, respectively.

Media[]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Television[]

2012 marked the second year of a 14-year partnership between CBS Sports and Turner Broadcasting cable networks TBS, TNT and truTV to cover the entire tournament under the NCAA March Madness banner. CBS aired the Final Four and championship rounds for the 31st consecutive year.

Studio hosts[]

• Greg Gumbel (New York City and New Orleans) – 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

^[14]

Studio analysts[]

• Greg Anthony (New York City and New Orleans) – First Four, Second Round, Third Round, Regionals, Final Four and National Championship Game
• Charles Barkley (New York City and New Orleans) – First Four, Second Round, Third Round, Regionals, Final Four and National Championship Game
• Mike Brey (Atlanta) – Third Round
• Seth Davis (Atlanta and New Orleans) – First Four, Second Round, Third Round, Regional Semi-Finals, Final Four and National Championship Game
• Steve Lavin (New York City) – Third Round
• Frank Martin (New York City) – Regional Finals
• Shaka Smart (Atlanta) – Regional Semi-Finals
• Kenny Smith (New York City and New Orleans) – 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 (Atlanta) – First Four and Second Round

^[15]

Announcing teams[]

• Jim Nantz/Steve Kerr/Clark Kellogg/Tracy Wolfson – First Four at Dayton, Ohio; Second and Third Round at Greensboro, North Carolina; South Regionals at Atlanta, Georgia; Final Four at New Orleans, Louisiana
  Kerr joined Nantz and Kellogg during the First Four, Final Four, and National Championship games
• Marv Albert/Steve Kerr/Craig Sager – Second and Third Round at Omaha, Nebraska; Midwest Regionals at St. Louis, Missouri
• Verne Lundquist/Bill Raftery/Lesley Visser – Second and Third Round at Louisville, Kentucky; East Regionals at Boston, Massachusetts
• Kevin Harlan/Len Elmore/Reggie Miller/Marty Snider – Second and Third Round at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; West Regionals at Phoenix, Arizona
• Ian Eagle/Jim Spanarkel/Lewis Johnson – First Four at Dayton, Ohio; Second and Third Round at Nashville, Tennessee
• Brian Anderson/Dan Bonner/ – Second and Third Round at Portland, Oregon
• Tim Brando/Mike Gminski/Otis Livingston – Second and Third Round at Columbus, Ohio
• Spero Dedes/Bob Wenzel/Jaime Maggio – Second and Third Round at Albuquerque, New Mexico

^{[16][17][18][19][20]}

Number of games per network[]

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

Radio[]

Dial Global Sports (formerly Westwood One^[21]) and SiriusXM have live broadcasts of all 67 games.^[22]

First Four[]

• Dave Ryan and Alaa Abdelnaby – at Dayton, Ohio

Second and Third Round[]

• Kevin Calabro and Bill Frieder – Second and Third Round at Portland, Oregon
• Dave Sims and Michael Cage – Second and Third Round at Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Scott Graham and Kevin Grevey – Second and Third Round at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Ted Robinson and Kyle Macy – Second and Third Round at Louisville, Kentucky
• Wayne Larrivee and John Thompson – Second and Third Round at Columbus, Ohio
• Kevin Kugler and Tom Brennan – Second and Third Round at Omaha, Nebraska
• Brad Sham and Pete Gillen – Second and Third Round at Nashville, Tennessee
• Gary Cohen and Reid Gettys – Second and Third Round at Greensboro, North Carolina

^[23]

Regionals[]

• Kevin Kugler and Pete Gillen – East Regional at Boston, Massachusetts
• Wayne Larrivee and Fran Fraschilla – Midwest Regional at St. Louis, Missouri
• Ian Eagle and John Thompson – South Regional at Atlanta, Georgia
• Dave Sims and Bill Frieder – West Regional at Phoenix, Arizona

Final Four[]

• Kevin Kugler, John Thompson and Bill Raftery – New Orleans, Louisiana

Courts[]

All tournament sites continued to use the uniform courts that were first introduced tournament-wide in 2010, except for a slight variation at the East Regionals in Boston at the TD Garden, where a parquet floor court pattern similar to that used by the hometown Boston Celtics was used.

See also[]

• 2012 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2012 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2012 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2012 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2012 National Invitation Tournament
• 2012 Women's National Invitation Tournament
• 2012 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2012 NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
• 2012 NAIA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2012 NAIA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament
• 2012 College Basketball Invitational
• 2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

References[]