The 2012

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as NCAA March Madness and commonly called March Madness, is a single-elimination tournament played each spring in the United States, currently featuring 68 college basketball teams fro ...

was a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final mat ...

involving 68 schools playing to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

. 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 The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virgini ...

, making their second appearance in the Final Four under

John Calipari John Vincent Calipari (born February 10, 1959) is an American basketball coach. Since 2009, he has been the head coach of the University of Kentucky men's team, with whom he won the NCAA Championship in 2012. He has been named Naismith College ...

, Louisville, making their second appearance under

Rick Pitino Richard Andrew Pitino (born September 18, 1952) is an American college basketball coach who is the head coach for Iona College. He was also the head coach of Greece's senior national team. He has been the head coach of several teams in NCAA ...

and first since 2005,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

, making their first appearance since winning the 2008 national championship under head coach Bill Self by defeating Calipari's Memphis team, and

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

, making their first appearance since their runner-up finish in 2007 and second under coach

Thad Matta Thad Michael Matta (born July 11, 1967) is an American college basketball coach and the current head coach of the Butler Bulldogs men's basketball team. From 2004 to 2017, Matta led the Ohio State Buckeyes to five Big Ten Conference regular se ...

. Kentucky defeated Kansas 67-59 to win their first national championship since

Tubby Smith Orlando Henry "Tubby" Smith (born June 30, 1951) is an American college basketball coach. He was the men's basketball coach at High Point University, his alma mater. Smith previously served in the same role at the University of Tulsa, the Unive ...

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 Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

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 Lehigh may refer to: Places United States *Lehigh, Iowa *Lehigh, Kansas *Lehigh, Oklahoma *Lehigh, Barbour County, West Virginia *Lehigh, Wisconsin *Lehigh Acres, Florida *Lehigh Township (disambiguation) *Lehigh Valley, a region in eastern Penns ...

of the

Patriot League The Patriot League is a collegiate athletic conference comprising private institutions of higher education and two United States service academies based in the Northeastern United States. Outside the Ivy League, it is among the most selective g ...

defeated #2

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...

. In the West Region, #15 Norfolk State of the MEAC, making their first ever NCAA tournament appearance, defeated #2

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. In addition to this,

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

won a game as a double digit seed for the second time in four tournaments as the #13 seed Bobcats defeated #4 seed

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

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 South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of ...

defeated Midwest #5 seed

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called church (building), churches), Hindui ...

, setting up a #12 vs. #13 matchup that Ohio won.

Virginia Commonwealth Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university in Richmond, Virginia. VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854. In 1968, the Virgin ...

, 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 Wichita State University (WSU) is a public research university in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The university offers more than 60 undergraduate degree programs in more than 200 areas of stud ...

. The South Region saw four double digit seeds win in their opening games, as

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

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 Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

of the West Region lost. Kentucky was the only one to advance to the Final Four as

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States * Syracuse, New York ** East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

lost in their regional finals. Two teams made their first NCAA tournament appearances in school history: MEAC champion Norfolk State and

Summit League The Summit League, or The Summit, is an NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic conference with its membership mostly located in the Midwestern United States from Illinois on the East of the Mississippi River to the Dakotas and Nebraska on the W ...

champion South Dakota State.

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schoo ...

champion Harvard made its first appearance since 1946. All four teams from the state of

(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. 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.

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 A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...

tournament. The remaining automatic bid was awarded to the

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.

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2012 tournament: First Four *March 13 and 14 **

University of Dayton Arena University of Dayton Arena (commonly known as UD Arena) is a 13,409-seat multi-purpose arena located in Dayton, Ohio. The arena opened in 1969. It is home to the University of Dayton Flyers basketball teams. From 2001 to 2010, the facility host ...

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater ...

(Host:

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the nation and the second-largest private university in Ohio. The uni ...

) Second and third rounds *March 15 and 17 **

Rose Garden A rose garden or rosarium is a garden or park, often open to the public, used to present and grow various types of garden roses, and sometimes rose species. Most often it is a section of a larger garden. Designs vary tremendously and roses m ...

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...

(Host:

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

) ** University Arena ("The Pit"), Albuquerque, New Mexico (Host:

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25, ...

) ** Consol Energy Center,

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

(Host:

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pitts ...

) **

KFC Yum! Center The KFC Yum! Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is named after the KFC restaurant chain and Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC. Adjacent to the Ohio River waterfront, it is located on Ma ...

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana borde ...

(Host:

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

) *March 16 and 18 **

Nationwide Arena Nationwide Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Columbus, Ohio, United States. Since completion in 2000, the arena has served as the home of the Columbus Blue Jackets of the National Hockey League (NHL). It is one of two facilities in Columbus, alon ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

(Host:

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pu ...

) ** CenturyLink Center Omaha,

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County, Nebraska, Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. List of ...

(Host:

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and underg ...

) **

Bridgestone Arena Bridgestone Arena (originally Nashville Arena, and formerly Gaylord Entertainment Center and Sommet Center) is a multi-purpose venue in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Completed in 1996, it is the home of the Nashville Predators o ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

(Host:

Ohio Valley Conference The Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. It participates in Division I of the NCAA; the conference's football programs compete in the Football Cha ...

) **

Greensboro Coliseum The Greensboro Coliseum Complex, commonly referred to as Greensboro Coliseum (the first and biggest building on the site), is an entertainment and sports complex located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Opened in 1959, the complex holds eight ven ...

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

(Host: Atlantic Coast Conference) Regional semifinals and Finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) *March 22 and 24 **East Regional,

TD Garden TD Garden is a multi-purpose arena in Boston, Massachusetts. It is named after its sponsor, TD Bank, a subsidiary of the Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Ontario. It opened in 1995 as a replacement for the original Boston Garden and has bee ...

, Boston, Massachusetts (Host:

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

) **West Regional,

US Airways Center The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

(Host:

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public research university in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, ASU is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in t ...

) *March 23 and 25 **Midwest Regional, Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri (Host:

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississip ...

) **South Regional,

Georgia Dome The Georgia Dome was a domed stadium in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta between downtown to the east and Vine City to the west, it was owned and operated by the State of Georgia as part of the Georgia World Congress Cent ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

(Host:

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

) National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) *March 31 and April 2 **

(Host:

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pu ...

)

Qualification and selection teams

Automatic bids

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).

Tournament seeds (list by region)

*See

First Four The First Four is a play-in round of the NCAA Division I men's and women's basketball tournaments. It consists of two games contested between the four lowest-ranked teams in the field, and two games contested between the four lowest-seeded "a ...

Bracket

* – Denotes overtime period ''Unless otherwise noted, all times listed are Eastern ''Daylight'' Time ( UTC-04)''

First Four – Dayton, Ohio

The

games involved eight teams: the four overall lowest-ranked teams, and the four lowest-ranked at-large teams. 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 Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

against

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...

in the 2005 Elite Eight. * 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

against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

in the 2001 national semifinals. In addition, the March 13 session was notable for the attendance of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

, and

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

prime minister of Great Britain The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...

. Cameron was in the U.S. for bilateral political and economic talks with Obama.

South Regional – Atlanta, Georgia

South Regional all-tournament team

Regional all-tournament team: Quincy Acy, Baylor; Anthony Davis, Kentucky;

Doron Lamb Doron Emmanuel Calvin Lamb (born November 6, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Scafati Basket of the Lega Basket Serie A. He played college basketball for the University of Kentucky. High school career Lamb was born i ...

, Kentucky;

Christian Watford Christian Ramon Watford (born April 28, 1991) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for Indiana University. High school career Watford played high school basketball at Shades Valley High School in the ...

, Indiana. Regional most outstanding player: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky

West Regional – Phoenix, Arizona

West Regional all-tournament team

Regional all-tournament team: Bradley Beal, Florida; Gorgui Dieng, Louisville; Draymond Green, Michigan State; Peyton Siva, Louisville. Regional most outstanding player: Chane Behanan, Louisville

East Regional – Boston, Massachusetts

East Regional all-tournament team

Regional all-tournament team: Scoop Jardine, Syracuse;

Lenzelle Smith, Jr. Lenzelle LaJuan Smith Jr. (born October 3, 1991) is an American professional basketball player for Alba Fehérvár of the Hungary Hungarian first division (NB1). Smith is known for being a consistent scorer in Europe. Standing at 1.94 m (6'4 ...

, Ohio State; Jordan Taylor, Wisconsin; Deshaun Thomas, Ohio State. Regional most outstanding player: Jared Sullinger, Ohio State

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri

Midwest Regional all-tournament team

Regional all-tournament team: Walter Offutt, Ohio; Tyshawn Taylor, Kansas;

Jeff Withey Jeffree David Withey (born March 7, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for Bilbao Basket of the Liga ACB. He played college basketball for the University of Kansas where he became known for his shot-blocking ability and his defens ...

, Kansas; Tyler Zeller, North Carolina. Regional most outstanding player: Thomas Robinson, Kansas

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

Final Four all-tournament team

Final Four all-tournament team: Anthony Davis, Kentucky; Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky; Doron Lamb, Kentucky; Thomas Robinson, Kansas; Tyshawn Taylor, Kansas Final Four most outstanding player: Anthony Davis, Kentucky

Game summaries

Final Four

National Championship

Record by conference

*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

Television

2012 marked the second year of a 14-year partnership between

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street (Manhattan), 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS ...

and

Turner Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (l ...

cable networks TBS, TNT and

truTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts comedy, docusoaps and reality shows. The channel was originally launched in 1991 as Court TV, a network that f ...

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 Greg Gumbel (born May 3, 1946) is an American television sportscaster. He is best known for his various assignments for CBS Sports (most notably, the National Football League and NCAA basketball). The older brother of news and sportscaster Bryan ...

(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

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 Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player who is a television analyst on TNT. Nicknamed "Sir Charles", "Chuck", and "the Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley played 16 seasons in the Nati ...

(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

Announcing teams

* Jim Nantz/ Clark Kellogg/

Steve Kerr Stephen Douglas Kerr (born September 27, 1965) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is a nine-time NBA champion, havi ...

/ 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 Marv Albert (born Marvin Philip Aufrichtig; June 12, 1941) is an American retired sportscaster. Honored for his work as a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, he was commonly referred to as "the voice of basketball". From 1967 to 2004, he wa ...

/ Craig Sager – Second and third round at Omaha, Nebraska; Midwest Regionals at St. Louis, Missouri * Verne Lundquist/ Bill Raftery/

Lesley Visser Lesley Candace Visser (born September 11, 1953) is an American sportscaster, television and radio personality, and sportswriter. Visser is the first female NFL analyst on TV, and the only sportscaster in history who has worked on Final Four, NB ...

– Second and third round at Louisville, Kentucky; East Regionals at Boston, Massachusetts *

Kevin Harlan Kevin Harlan (born June 21, 1960) is an American television and radio sports announcer. The son of former Green Bay Packers executive Bob Harlan, he broadcasts NFL and college basketball games on CBS and the NBA for TNT. 2022 will be his 38th c ...

/ Len Elmore/ Reggie Miller/Marty Snider – Second and third round at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; West Regionals at Phoenix, Arizona * Ian Eagle/ Jim Spanarkel/

Lewis Johnson Lewis Johnson is an American sports commentator and sports reporter. He is one of the few sports broadcasters to have worked for ABC, NBC and CBS. He has also worked for Westwood One, ESPN, the Pac-12 Network and Turner Sports. Lewis is a graduat ...

– First Four at Dayton, Ohio; Second and third round at Nashville, Tennessee * Brian Anderson/ Dan Bonner/ Jenn Hildreth – 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

Number of games per network

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

Radio

Dial Global Sports (formerly Westwood One) and

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...

have live broadcasts of all 67 games.

First Four

* Dave Ryan and

Alaa Abdelnaby Alaa Abdelnaby ( ar, علاء عبد النبي), (born June 24, 1968) is an Egyptian-American former professional basketball player. He played for the Duke Blue Devils and then played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Continent ...

– 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 Scott Graham (born June 10, 1965) is an American sportscaster best known for his broadcasts of the Philadelphia Phillies, his work with NFL Films, and his studio hosting of ''The NFL on Westwood One''. He has lived and worked near Philadelphia ...

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 John Thompson may refer to: Academics * J. A. Thompson (1913–2002), Australian biblical scholar * John D. Thompson (1917–1992), nurse and professor at the Yale School of Public Health * John G. Thompson (born 1932), American mathematician * ...

– 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

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 Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

at the

, where a parquet floor court pattern similar to that used by the hometown

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

was used.

References

{{2011-12 NCAA Division I championships NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Basketball in New Orleans

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

Sports in Portland, Oregon Caesars Superdome

Tournament procedure

Schedule and venues

Qualification and selection teams

Automatic bids

Tournament seeds (list by region)

Bracket

First Four – Dayton, Ohio

South Regional – Atlanta, Georgia

South Regional all-tournament team

West Regional – Phoenix, Arizona

West Regional all-tournament team

East Regional – Boston, Massachusetts

East Regional all-tournament team

Midwest Regional – St. Louis, Missouri

Midwest Regional all-tournament team

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

Final Four all-tournament team

Game summaries

Final Four

National Championship

Record by conference

Media

Television

Studio hosts

Studio analysts

Announcing teams

Number of games per network

Radio

First Four

Second and third round

Regionals

Final Four

Courts

See also

References