2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2010-11 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. Due to the geographical location of New Orleans and San Antonio, the "South" and "Midwest" regional games were replaced for this tournament by the monikers "Southeast" and "Southwest", 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. This was also the first Final Four to not feature any 1-seed or 2-seeds. The Final Four had the highest combined Final Four seeds since seeding started in 1979, with 26 (11-VCU, 8-Butler, 4-Kentucky & 3-Connecticut). Connecticut defeated Butler in the championship game 53–41, winning its third national championship in as many attempts.

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 city mate 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 11 teams make the tournament. 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.

This was the last NCAA men's tournament in which a mid-major conference saw multiple teams reach the Sweet 16, as both BYU and San Diego State did from the Mountain West Conference.

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. 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". 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:2011 NCAA tournament information – College Basketball News | FOX Sports on MSN

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

First and Second 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: University of Houston, Rice University)

Qualified teams

Automatic bids The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2011 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).

ConferenceSchoolAppearanceLast bidACCDuke35th2010America EastBoston University7th2002Atlantic 10Richmond9th2010Atlantic SunBelmont4th2008Big 12Kansas40th2010Big EastConnecticut29th2009Big SkyNorthern Colorado1stNeverBig SouthUNC Asheville2nd2003Big TenOhio State27th2010Big WestUC Santa Barbara5th2010ColonialOld Dominion11th2010C-USAMemphis23rd2009HorizonButler11th2010Ivy LeaguePrinceton24th2004MAACSaint Peter's3rd1995MACAkron3rd2009MEACHampton4th2006Missouri ValleyIndiana State4th2001Mountain WestSan Diego State7th2010NortheastLong Island4th1997Ohio ValleyMorehead State7th2009Pac-10Washington16th2010PatriotBucknell5th2006SECKentucky51st2010SouthernWofford2nd2010SouthlandUTSA4th2004SummitOakland3rd2010SWACAlabama State4th2009Sun BeltArkansas–Little Rock4th1990WACUtah State20th2010West CoastGonzaga14th2010

Tournament seeds (list by region) East Regional – Newark, New JerseySeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeLast bid1Ohio StateBig Ten32–2Automatic20102North CarolinaACC26–7At-large20093SyracuseBig East26–7At-large20104KentuckySEC25–8Automatic20105West VirginiaBig East20–11At-large20106XavierAtlantic 1024–7At-large20107WashingtonPac-1023–10Automatic20108George MasonCAA26–6At-large20089VillanovaBig East21–11At-large201010GeorgiaSEC21–11At-large200811MarquetteBig East20–14At-large201012*UABC-USA22–8At-large2006ClemsonACC21–11At-large201013PrincetonIvy League25–6Automatic200414Indiana StateMissouri Valley20–13Automatic200115Long IslandNortheast27–5Automatic199716*UTSASouthland19–13Automatic2004Alabama StateSWAC17–17Automatic2009 Southeast Regional – New Orleans, LouisianaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeLast bid1PittsburghBig East27–5At-large20102FloridaSEC26–7At-large20103BYUMountain West30–4At-large20104WisconsinBig Ten23–8At-large20105Kansas StateBig 1222–10At-large20106St. John'sBig East21–11At-large20027UCLAPac-1022–10At-large20098ButlerHorizon23–9Automatic20109Old DominionCAA27–6Automatic201010Michigan StateBig Ten19–14At-large201011GonzagaWest Coast24–9Automatic201012Utah StateWAC30–3Automatic201013BelmontAtlantic Sun30–4Automatic200814WoffordSouthern21–12Automatic201015UC Santa BarbaraBig West18–13Automatic201016*UNC AshevilleBig South19–13Automatic2003Arkansas–Little RockSun Belt19–16Automatic1990 Southwest Regional – San Antonio, TexasSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeLast bid1KansasBig 1232–2Automatic20102Notre DameBig East26–6At-large20103PurdueBig Ten25–7At-large20104LouisvilleBig East25–9At-large20105VanderbiltSEC23–10At-large20106GeorgetownBig East21–10At-large20107Texas A&MBig 1224–8At-large20108UNLVMountain West24–8At-large20109IllinoisBig Ten19–13At-large200910Florida StateACC21–10At-large201011*USCPac-1019–14At-large2009VCUCAA23–11At-large200912RichmondAtlantic 1027–7Automatic201013Morehead StateOhio Valley24–9Automatic200914Saint Peter'sMAAC20–13Automatic199515AkronMAC23–12Automatic200916Boston UniversityAmerica East21–13Automatic2002 West Regional – Anaheim, CaliforniaSeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth typeLast bid1DukeACC30–4Automatic20102San Diego StateMountain West32–2Automatic20103ConnecticutBig East26–9Automatic20094TexasBig 1227–7At-large20105ArizonaPac-1027–7At-large20096CincinnatiBig East25–8At-large20057TempleAtlantic 1025–7At-large20108MichiganBig Ten20–13At-large20099TennesseeSEC19–14At-large201010Penn StateBig Ten19–14At-large200111MissouriBig 1223–10At-large201012MemphisC-USA25–9Automatic200913OaklandSummit25–9Automatic201014BucknellPatriot25–8Automatic200615Northern ColoradoBig Sky21–10AutomaticNever16HamptonMEAC24–8Automatic2006 *See First Four.

Bracket 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

Regional Final Summary

West Regional – Anaheim, California

Regional Final Summary

Southwest Regional – San Antonio, Texas

Regional Final Summary

Southeast Regional – New Orleans, Louisiana

Regional Final Summary

Final Four – Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas

Game summaries

Consisting of #3-seeded Connecticut, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 8 Butler, and No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth (VCU), 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 and it would not happen again until 2023, coincidentally, also in Houston.How America Loses March Madness – Sports 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,Virginia Commonwealth Rams vs. Butler Bulldogs – NCAA Tournament Game – Recap – April 2, 2011 – ESPN 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.Kentucky Wildcats vs. Connecticut Huskies – NCAA Tournament Game – Recap – April 2, 2011 – ESPN

National Championship