UConn's Triumph: A Look Back at the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was a memorable event, filled with upsets and unexpected storylines. This tournament, the 73rd edition, involved 68 teams competing in a single-elimination format to crown the national champion for the 2010-11 season. The tournament tipped off on March 15, 2011, and culminated with the championship game on April 4, held at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Tournament Format and Expansion
The 2011 tournament marked a significant change with the introduction of the "First Four" round, expanding the field from 65 to 68 teams. 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. 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.
A Final Four of Underdogs
The 2011 Final Four was notable for the absence of top seeds, a rarity in the tournament's history. It was the first time since 2006 that no top seeds reached the Final Four, with the highest remaining seed being the #3 Connecticut Huskies, champions of the West Region. The Final Four consisted of #3-seeded Connecticut, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 8 Butler, and No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth (VCU). For the first time since 2000, a #8 seed, Butler, advanced to the Final Four after winning the Southeast Region. They were the national runner-up from the year before. Adding to the unexpected nature of the Final Four, #11 seed Virginia Commonwealth (VCU), one of the "First Four" teams, emerged as the winner of the Southwest Region. For only the third time ever, a #11 seed advanced to the Final Four. Kentucky, a #4 seed, won the East Region and joined the other three teams. This was also the first Final Four to not feature any 1-seed or 2-seeds. The combined seeding of the Final Four teams was the highest since seeding began in 1979, totaling 26 (11-VCU, 8-Butler, 4-Kentucky, and 3-Connecticut). 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.
Upsets and Surprises Throughout the Tournament
The 2011 tournament was defined by numerous upsets and unexpected results. The East Region saw its #11 seed, Marquette, advance to the Sweet Sixteen where they were downed by North Carolina. The Southwest Region was particularly chaotic, with four double-digit seeds winning their first-round matchups. VCU was joined by #12 seed and city mate Richmond, #10 seed Florida State, and #13 seed Morehead State as first round winners. Ultimately, Florida State, VCU, and Richmond advanced to the Sweet Sixteen from that region, with VCU defeating top-seeded Kansas in the regional final. For the third time in as many appearances, Vanderbilt suffered a defeat to a double digit seed.
Some notable upsets included:
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- No. 11 Marquette defeated No. 6 St. John's.
- No. 13 Morehead State defeated No. 4 Louisville.
- No. 12 Richmond defeated No. 5 Vanderbilt.
- No. 11 VCU defeated No. 6 Georgetown.
- No. 11 Gonzaga defeated No. 6 St. John's.
- No. 11 Marquette defeated No. 3 Syracuse.
- No. 11 VCU defeated No. 3 Purdue.
- No. 10 Florida State defeated No. 7 Texas A&M.
- No. 8 Butler defeated No. 1 Pittsburgh.
- No. 11 VCU defeated No. 1 Kansas.
- No. 8 Butler defeated No. 4 Wisconsin.
Big East Dominance and Intra-Conference Matchups
The Big East Conference had a record 11 teams participate in 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 such matchups occurred 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, Louisville, West Virginia, Cincinnati, Marquette, Syracuse, Georgetown, and Notre Dame.
Semifinal Showdowns
The Final Four featured two compelling semifinal matchups. The first pitted VCU against Butler. Butler prevailed with a 70-62 victory, earning their spot in the National Championship game for the second consecutive year. 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.
Championship Game: UConn vs. Butler
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 2011 national championship game was between Butler, a mid-major university team that was a surprise finalist in the 2010 tournament, and The University of Connecticut, a basketball powerhouse which had previously won the tournament twice under coach Jim Calhoun but had had an average regular season, finishing 9th in the Big East before winning the conference tournament with five victories in five consecutive days (never before accomplished in NCAA history). UConn defeated Butler in a defensive battle, 53-41, to win their third national title. 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. The NCAA championship game was a very defensive contest, with UConn coming out on top 53-41 to win their third-ever national title and Butler scoring the fewest points in a championship game since 1949. 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. UConn contributed to Butler's poor shooting by blocking 10 shots, also a championship game record. 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. The win by the Huskies completed a season-ending 11-game win streak that had begun with the Big East Tournament. It was the first time since the 1989 National Championship Game, neither a #1 nor a #2 seed participated in the National Championship Game. UConn contributed to Butler's poor shooting, blocking 10 shots, a championship game record.
Media Coverage and Viewership
CBS and Turner pooled their resources for the tournament, with members of the NBA on TNT crew joining CBS's established March Madness broadcasters. 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. 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. 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. 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 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).
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