2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament explained

Year:2011
Teams:68
Finalfourarena:Reliant Stadium
Finalfourcity:Houston, Texas
Champions:Connecticut Huskies
Titlecount:3rd
Champgamecount:3rd
Champffcount:4th
Runnerup:Butler Bulldogs
Gamecount:2nd
Runnerffcount:2nd
Semifinal1:Kentucky Wildcats
Finalfourcount:14th
Semifinal2:VCU Rams
Finalfourcount2:1st
Coach:Jim Calhoun
Coachcount:3rd
Mop:Kemba Walker
Mopteam:Connecticut

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 by the monikers "Southeast" and "Southwest" for this tournament, 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 as in 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 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.

This was the last NCAA tournament until 2023 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.[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

First and Second rounds

Regional semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship)

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).

ConferenceSchooldata-sort-type="number" AppearanceLast bid
ACCDuke35th2010
America EastBoston University7th2002
Atlantic 10Richmond9th2010
Atlantic SunBelmont4th2008
Big 12Kansas40th2010
Big EastConnecticut29th2009
Big SkyNorthern Colorado1stNever
Big SouthUNC Asheville2nd2003
Big TenOhio State27th2010
Big WestUC Santa Barbara5th2010
ColonialOld Dominion11th2010
C-USAMemphis23rd2009
HorizonButler11th2010
Ivy LeaguePrinceton24th2004
MAACSaint Peter's3rd1995
MACAkron3rd2009
MEACHampton4th2006
Missouri ValleyIndiana State4th2001
Mountain WestSan Diego State7th2010
NortheastLong Island4th1997
Ohio ValleyMorehead State7th2009
Pac-10Washington16th2010
PatriotBucknell5th2006
SECKentucky51st2010
SouthernWofford2nd2010
SouthlandUTSA4th2004
SummitOakland3rd2010
SWACAlabama State4th2009
Sun BeltArkansas–Little Rock4th1990
WACUtah State20th2010
West CoastGonzaga14th2010

Tournament seeds (list by region)

valign=top
East Regional – Newark, New Jersey
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1Ohio StateBig Ten32–2Automatic
2North CarolinaACC26–7At-large
3SyracuseBig East26–7At-large
4KentuckySEC25–8Automatic
5West VirginiaBig East20–11At-large
6XavierAtlantic 1024–7At-large
7WashingtonPac-1023–10Automatic
8George MasonCAA26–6At-large
9VillanovaBig East21–11At-large
10GeorgiaSEC21–11At-large
11MarquetteBig East20–14At-large
12*UABC-USA22–8At-large
ClemsonACC21–11At-large
13PrincetonIvy League25–6Automatic
14Indiana StateMissouri Valley20–13Automatic
15Long IslandNortheast27–5Automatic
16*UTSASouthland19–13Automatic
Alabama StateSWAC17–17Automatic
valign=top
Southeast Regional – New Orleans, Louisiana
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1PittsburghBig East27–5At-large
2FloridaSEC26–7At-large
3BYUMountain West30–4At-large
4WisconsinBig Ten23–8At-large
5Kansas StateBig 1222–10At-large
6St. John'sBig East21–11At-large
7UCLAPac-1022–10At-large
8ButlerHorizon23–9Automatic
9Old DominionCAA27–6Automatic
10Michigan StateBig Ten19–14At-large
11GonzagaWest Coast24–9Automatic
12Utah StateWAC30–3Automatic
13BelmontAtlantic Sun30–4Automatic
14WoffordSouthern21–12Automatic
15UC Santa BarbaraBig West18–13Automatic
16*UNC AshevilleBig South19–13Automatic
Arkansas–Little RockSun Belt19–16Automatic
valign=top
Southwest Regional – San Antonio, Texas
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1KansasBig 1232–2Automatic
2Notre DameBig East26–6At-large
3PurdueBig Ten25–7At-large
4LouisvilleBig East25–9At-large
5VanderbiltSEC23–10At-large
6GeorgetownBig East21–10At-large
7Texas A&MBig 1224–8At-large
8UNLVMountain West24–8At-large
9IllinoisBig Ten19–13At-large
10Florida StateACC21–10At-large
11*USCPac-1019–14At-large
VCUCAA23–11At-large
12RichmondAtlantic 1027–7Automatic
13Morehead StateOhio Valley24–9Automatic
14Saint Peter'sMAAC20–13Automatic
15AkronMAC23–12Automatic
16Boston UniversityAmerica East21–13Automatic
valign=top
West Regional – Anaheim, California
SeedSchoolConferenceRecordBerth type
1DukeACC30–4Automatic
2San Diego StateMountain West32–2Automatic
3ConnecticutBig East26–9Automatic
4TexasBig 1227–7At-large
5ArizonaPac-1027–7At-large
6CincinnatiBig East25–8At-large
7TempleAtlantic 1025–7At-large
8MichiganBig Ten20–13At-large
9TennesseeSEC19–14At-large
10Penn StateBig Ten19–14At-large
11MissouriBig 1223–10At-large
12MemphisC-USA25–9Automatic
13OaklandSummit25–9Automatic
14BucknellPatriot25–8Automatic
15Northern ColoradoBig Sky21–10Automatic
16HamptonMEAC24–8Automatic
*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

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.[5] 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,[6] 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.[7]

National Championship

See main article: 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game.

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.[8] 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. 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).[9] 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.[10]

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.[11] [12] 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."[13]

Record by conference

Conference
  1. of bids
RecordWin %R32S16E8F4CGNC
Big East1113–10721111
Horizon15–1111110
CAA36–321110
SEC57–522210
ACC48–43310
Atlantic 1033–33210
Pac-1045–43110
Big 1255–53110
Mountain West34–3220
Big Ten77–7520
OVC11–110
WCC11–110
C-USA20–20

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 (later extended to 2032 in the 2016 tournament), 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.[14]

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.[15]

Studio hosts

Studio analysts

Announcing teams

Round-by-round game schedule

All times Eastern and PM[16]

RoundCBSTBSTNTTruTV
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.[17]

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

Number of games per network

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.[18]

First Four

Second and Third round

Regionals

Final four

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.[19] 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

Basketball TV planned to broadcast the NCAA tournament using the American feed.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Wieberg. Steve. NCAA tournament has new look, more games, more channels. USA Today. March 11, 2011. April 15, 2011.
  2. News: Last four at-large to play in first round . Andy . Katz . Andy Katz . ESPN . July 12, 2010 . July 13, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100713232021/http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5374116. July 13, 2010 . live.
  3. Web site: Archived copy . www.ncaa.org . 22 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091203022814/http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?key=/ncaa/ncaa/media+and+events/press+room/news+release+archive/2009/championships/20090921+mbb+site+selection+2011-13 . 3 December 2009 . dead.
  4. http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/10107882/2011-NCAA-tournament-information 2011 NCAA tournament information – College Basketball News | FOX Sports on MSN
  5. http://media.www.snctimes.com/media/storage/paper1369/news/2011/04/04/Sports/How-America.Loses.March.Madness-3990452-page2.shtml How America Loses March Madness – Sports
  6. https://web.archive.org/web/20110424130104/http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?id=310922086 Virginia Commonwealth Rams vs. Butler Bulldogs – NCAA Tournament Game – Recap – April 2, 2011 – ESPN
  7. https://web.archive.org/web/20110424130025/http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?id=310920041 Kentucky Wildcats vs. Connecticut Huskies – NCAA Tournament Game – Recap – April 2, 2011 – ESPN
  8. News: UConn Cuts Down Nets After Butler Rattles the Rims . The New York Times . Pete . Thamel . Pete Thamel . April 5, 2011.
  9. https://archive.today/20120718041731/http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=310940041 Butler Bulldogs vs. Connecticut Huskies – NCAA Tournament Game – Recap – April 4, 2011 – ESPN
  10. News: Stats, scores and schedules . The Washington Post . April 13, 2011.
  11. News: UConn's title win a sore sight . ESPN . https://web.archive.org/web/20110429230538/http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/tournament/2011/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=6294241 . April 29, 2011 . live . May 13, 2013.
  12. News: Hang Up and Listen podcast. April 6, 2011. Slate.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20110430190151/http://www.slate.com/id/2287049/. April 30, 2011 . live.
  13. Web site: Championship finale Built Brick By Brick . Jacobs . Jeff . April 6, 2011 . April 6, 2011 . Hartford Courant . https://web.archive.org/web/20110501080432/http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-men/hc-jacobs-uconn-column-0406-20110406,0,493167.column . May 1, 2011 . live . mdy .
  14. Web site: Turner Sports. NCAA.com. CBS, Turner combine talent rosters. January 20, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110426055252/http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/2011-01-18/cbs-turner-combine-talent-rosters. April 26, 2011. dead. mdy-all.
  15. http://www.multichannel.com/article/465297-TruTV_Nets_HD_Channel_Launches.php TruTV Nets HD Channel Launches
  16. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/richard_deitsch/02/09/ncaa.cbsturner/ CBS, Turner set to televise all NCAA tournament games nationally
  17. https://www.scribd.com/doc/48576510/2011-NCAA-Tournament-TV-Schedule/ 2011 NCAA Tournament TV Schedule
  18. Westwood One. PR Newswire. Westwood One and the NCAA Announce New Multi-Year Radio Rights Agreement. January 26, 2011.
  19. Web site: Mobile March Madness:Best iPhone Apps. Digital Trends. Staff. Digital Trends. March 14, 2011. March 29, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110430202046/http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/mobile-march-madness-best-iphone-apps-ipad-ncaa-tournament/2/. April 30, 2011 . live.
  20. News: TSN catches March Madness. Bruce. Dowbiggin. Globe and Mail . February 24, 2011. March 14, 2011. Toronto. https://web.archive.org/web/20110303090954/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/bruce-dowbiggin/tsn-catches-march-madness/article1919949/. March 3, 2011. live.