2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season


The 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2011 with the and ended with the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament's championship game on April 2, 2012 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The tournament began with four first-round games on March 13–14, 2012 in Dayton, Ohio, US, followed by second and third rounds on Thursday through Sunday, March 15–18, 2012. Regionals games were played on Thursday through Sunday, March 22–25, 2012, with the Final Four played on Saturday and Monday, March 31 and April 2, 2012.
Kentucky claimed its eighth NCAA title, defeating Kansas 67–59 in the final. Consensus national player of the year Anthony Davis of Kentucky was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

Season headlines

The 2011–12 season saw the first wave of membership changes resulting from a major realignment of NCAA Division I conferences. The cycle began in 2010 with the Big Ten and the then-Pac-10 publicly announcing their intentions to expand. The fallout from these conferences' moves later affected a majority of D-I conferences.
SchoolFormer ConferenceNew Conference
Boise State BroncosWACMountain West
BYU CougarsMountain WestWCC
Colorado BuffaloesBig 12Pac-12
Nebraska CornhuskersBig 12Big Ten
South Dakota CoyotesGreat WestSummit League
Utah UtesMountain WestPac-12

New arenas

Beginning in 2011–12, the following rules change was implemented:

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls.

Regular season

A number of early-season tournaments marked the beginning of the college basketball season.

Early-season tournaments

NameDatesNo. teamsChampion
2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer ClassicNovember 7, 2011 – November 8, 2011
4*
Mississippi State
World Vision ClassicNovember 12, 2011 – November 14, 2011
4
Washington
Hall of Fame TipoffNovember 11, 2011 – November 20, 2011
4*
Kentucky
Charleston ClassicNovember 17, 2011 – November 20, 2011
8
Northwestern
Puerto Rico Tip-OffNovember 17, 2011 – November 20, 2011
8
Alabama
Legends ClassicNovember 19, 2011 – November 21, 2011
4*
Vanderbilt
Paradise Jam TournamentNovember 14, 2011 – November 21, 2011
8
Marquette
CBE ClassicNovember 21, 2011 – November 22, 2011
4*
Missouri
Cancún ChallengeNovember 22, 2011 – November 23, 2011
8
Illinois
Maui Invitational TournamentNovember 21, 2011 – November 23, 2011
8*
Duke
NIT Season Tip-OffNovember 14, 2011 – November 25, 2011
16
Syracuse
Chicago Invitational ChallengeNovember 13, 2011 – November 26, 2011
4*
Wisconsin
Great Alaska ShootoutNovember 23, 2011 – November 26, 2011
8
Murray State
Las Vegas InvitationalNovember 25, 2011 – November 26, 2011
4*
UNLV
South Padre Island InvitationalNovember 25, 2011 – November 26, 2011
8
Northern Iowa
Battle 4 AtlantisNovember 23, 2011 – November 27, 2011
8
Harvard
76 ClassicNovember 24, 2011 – November 27, 2011
8
Saint Louis
Old Spice ClassicNovember 23, 2011 – November 27, 2011
8
Dayton
Las Vegas ClassicDecember 13, 2011 – December 23, 2011
4*
Baylor
Diamond Head ClassicDecember 22, 2011 – December 25, 2011
8
Kansas State

*Although these tournaments include more teams, only the number listed play for the championship.

Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty athletic conferences each end their regular seasons with a single-elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that win their regular season title are given the number one seed in each tournament. The winners of these tournaments receive automatic invitations to the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The Ivy League does not have a conference tournament, instead giving their automatic invitation to their regular-season champion. As of 2012, the Great West Conference does not have an automatic bid to the NCAA Men or Women's College Tournament but the men's tourney champion does receive an automatic bid to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

Statistical leaders

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four – Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

Tournament upsets

For this list, a "major upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded 7 or more spots below its defeated opponent.
DateWinnerScoreLoser
March 15VCU 62–59Wichita State
March 16Norfolk State 86–84Missouri
March 16Ohio 65–60Michigan
March 16Lehigh 75–70Duke
March 16South Florida 58–44Temple
March 18NC State 66–63Georgetown

National Invitation tournament

After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the NCAA invited 32 teams to participate in the National Invitation Tournament. The tournament began on March 13, with all games prior to the semifinals played on campus sites. The semifinals and final were respectively held on March 27 and 29 at the traditional site of Madison Square Garden.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

College Basketball Invitational

The fifth College Basketball Invitational Tournament was held beginning March 13 and ended with a best-of-three final, which went to the maximum number of games and ended on March 30.

CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament

The fourth CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament was held beginning March 15 and ended with a championship game on March 28. This tournament places an emphasis on selecting successful teams from "mid-major" conferences who were left out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT.

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

The following players are recognized as the 2012 Consensus All-Americans:

Major player of the year awards

A number of teams changed coaches during and after the season.
TeamFormer
coach		Interim
coach		New
coach		Reason
Air ForceJeff ReynoldsDave PilopovichReynolds was fired February 8. ESPN wrote that "His intensity on the bench began to rub the Falcons the wrong way, zapping the fun from the game." Dave Pilopovich was named interim coach, then later given the job permanently.
BinghamtonMark MaconTommy DempseyMacon compiled a 24-68 record in his three seasons as head coach, including a 2-29 mark last winter, 1-15 in America East Conference play
BrownJesse AgelMike MartinAgel was fired after his fourth season following an 8–23 season.
Cal State FullertonBob BurtonAndy NewmanDedrique TaylorBurton resigned on June 22 and assistant Newman was named interim head coach for the 2012–13 season.
CanisiusTom ParrottaJim BaronIn six seasons as the Griffs' head coach, Parrotta posted a career record of 64–121 and a 30–78 mark in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play. The team went 5–25 overall and 1–17 in league during the 2011–12 campaign.
Central MichiganErnie ZeiglerKeno DavisZeigler was 75–111 over six seasons. He was given a new, four-year contract two years ago when he was just about to sign his son, Trey, to a scholarship to play for the Chippewas.
College of CharlestonBobby CreminsDoug WojcikCremins announced his retirement on Monday, March 19 at the College of Charleston. Cremins had coached at the school for six seasons after retiring from Georgia Tech, but took a leave of absence in late January due to exhaustion.
Colorado StateTim MilesLarry EustachyMiles resigned on March 23 to take the job at Nebraska. Miles led the Rams to the NCAA tournament and a fourth-place finish in the Mountain West and a 20–12 overall record. Miles spent five years with the Rams and improved the win total every season from seven to nine to 16 to 19 to 20. He also went to the CBI, NIT and now the NCAA tournament.
DuquesneRon EverhartJim FerryEverhart was 98–88 in six seasons with Duquesne, going 46–50 in Atlantic 10 play. Questions began to surface when three members of the team – including sophomore point guard T.J. McConnell, the team's best overall player – announced intentions to transfer.
Eastern IllinoisMike MillerJay SpoonhourMiller compiled a 75–130 overall record and a 44–84 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference in seven seasons at Eastern Illinois. The Panthers hired Jay Spoonhour, a successful junior college coach and son of Charlie Spoonhour, a longtime college coach who died in February 2012.
FIUIsiah ThomasRichard PitinoThomas went 26-65 in three seasons. Under Thomas, FIU never won more than 11 games in a season. The Golden Panthers hired Pitino, who had been associate head coach at Louisville under his father Rick.
Grambling StateBobby WashingtonJoseph PriceGrambling reassigned Washington to another role within the university.
Idaho StateJoe O'BrienDeane MartinBill EvansO'Brien resigned as Bengals coach in a move announced December 19, 2011.
IllinoisBruce WeberJohn GroceWeber coached the Illini for nine years, posting a 210–101 record and seven 20-win seasons. However, the Illini missed the NCAA Tournament three of the last five years, and won only two tournament games since reaching the national championship game in 2005.
Illinois StateTim JankovichDan MullerJankovich left Illinois State to become Associate Head Coach and coach-in-waiting at SMU.
Kansas StateFrank MartinBruce WeberMartin left to take the South Carolina job.
Long IslandJim FerryJack PerriFerry left to take the Duquesne job. Assistant coach Jack Perri was appointed the new head coach on April 10, 2012.
LSUTrent JohnsonJohnny JonesJohnson left LSU to take the TCU job.
Miami Charlie ColesJohn CooperColes retired after 16 years at Miami.
Mississippi StateRick StansburyRick RayStansbury retired after 14 years at Mississippi State, Stansbury led the Bulldogs to a 293–166 record, including 11 postseason appearances – but last went to the NCAA tournament in 2009.
Mississippi Valley StateSean WoodsChico PottsWoods left to take the Morehead State job.
Morehead StateDonnie TyndallSean WoodsTyndall left to take the Southern Miss job.
Mount St. Mary'sRobert BurkeMatt HenryJamion ChristianBurke was placed on administrative leave and Henry was named acting head coach on February 15. Burke formally resigned at the end of the season.
NebraskaDoc SadlerTim MilesSadler was 89–70 overall and 34–64 in league play in the six years at Nebraska.
North Carolina A&TJerry EavesCy AlexanderEaves' contract with the school expires May 30, 2013. Eaves finishes his tenure at A&T with a 99–180 record over nine seasons. He is third on the program's all-time wins list.
North TexasJohnny JonesTony BenfordJones left to take the LSU job.
Northern ArizonaMike AdrasDave BrownJack MurphyAdras resigned as head coach to pursue other opportunities. After a disastrous season that ended with a 16-game losing streak, new AD Lisa Campos hired Murphy, who spent the last three years as an assistant with Memphis.
OhioJohn GroceJim ChristianGroce left to take the Illinois job.
Rhode IslandJim BaronDan HurleyBaron was fired after the Rams finished 7–24 overall 4–12 in A-10 play and failed to qualify for the league tournament. Dan Hurley was named the new coach on March 21, 2012.
RiderTommy DempseyKevin BaggettDempsey took the open position at Binghamton after the season ended.
Saint Francis Don FridayRob KrimmelFriday was let go and replaced by Krimmel - son of Saint Francis athletic director Bob Krimmel.
SamfordJimmy TilletteBennie SeltzerTillette was the winningest coach in Samford history with an overall record of 229–219. He took the Bulldogs to the NCAA Tournament in 1999 and 2000. The program had struggled since its transition to the Southern Conference.
SMUMatt DohertyLarry BrownDoherty went 80–109 in six season with the Mustangs and just 30–67 in conference play. SMU finished 13–19 this season and lost 11 of its final 14 games.
South CarolinaDarrin HornFrank MartinHorn was fired after the Gamecocks lost 24 of their last 27 SEC games. Horn finishes his career at South Carolina 23–45 in league games and 60–63 overall with three losing seasons in a row.
Southern IllinoisChris LoweryBarry HinsonLowery had been under fire for the last couple years as the program deteriorated and ultimately bottomed out with an 8–23 record this season – a school record for losses in a season.
Southern MissLarry EustachyDonnie TyndallEustachy left to take the Colorado State job.
Southern UtahRoger ReidNick RobinsonAfter almost forty years of coaching basketball, Reid announced his retirement as head men's basketball coach at Southern Utah. He retires with an overall Division I record of 205–173, including a 54–97 record at SUU.
TCUJim ChristianTrent JohnsonChristian accepted the job at Ohio, Christian has gone 56-73 in four seasons at the helm, but had success in his six years at Kent State.
Tennessee StateJohn CooperTravis WilliamsCooper left to take the Miami job.
Texas SouthernTony HarveyMike Davis Harvey's resignation was announced July 3, 2012.
TulsaDoug WojcikDanny ManningWojcik, compiled a career record of 140–92 in his seven seasons at Tulsa and became the school's all-time leader in coaching victories last month. The lack of an NCAA Tournament appearance and a deteriorating fan base may have weighed heavily against Wojcik.
UABMike DavisJerod HaaseDavis said he was told he was fired because of poor ticket sales and attendance.
UNC GreensboroMike DementWes MillerDement stepped aside as Spartans coach in a move announced on December 13, 2011.
Virginia TechSeth GreenbergJames JohnsonGreenberg was let go on April 23 after significant turnover from his coaching staff.
WagnerDan HurleyBashir MasonHurley left to take the Rhode Island job. The Seahawks elevated assistant Mason to the top job, making him the current youngest Division I men's head coach at age 28.
Western KentuckyKen McDonaldRay HarperOn January 6, McDonald was released from his contract, citing lackluster attendance and a 5–11 start to the season. Ray Harper was named interim coach, then later given the job permanently.
WinthropRandy PeelePat KelseyPeele was fired after Winthrop finished with a losing record for the second consecutive season – the first time the Eagles had back-to-back losing seasons since 1997 and 1998.