2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference realignment, Membership changes
In response to the departures of three mainstay members and TCU, the Big East announced on December 7 that five schools would join the conference for football in 2013: Houston, SMU, and UCF would join as full members in all sports, while Boise State and San Diego State would leave the Mountain West and become football-only members. Boise State's other sports would return to the Western Athletic Conference, while San Diego State's would rejoin the Big West after a 35-year absence. Later developments in conference realignment, namely the demise of both the Big East and WAC's football competitions following the 2012 season, prompted both schools to abandon these plans and remain the Mountain West.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Infractions, investigations, and scandals, Ohio State
Five Ohio State players were alleged to have improperly traded dozens of items to the owner of a tattoo parlor in exchange for tattoos, cash, and, in one case, a sport-utility vehicle. The players, along with head coach Jim Tressel, were suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season. Tressel was under investigation for lying to the university and investigators regarding his knowledge of the incident. The program was also under investigation by the NCAA, the school having going before the NCAA Committee on Infractions in August 2011, with findings and decisions following shortly thereafter. The scandal led to the resignation of Tressel on May 30. On June 8, starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor, one of the five suspended players, announced that he would forgo his final year of college eligibility.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Infractions, investigations, and scandals, Ohio State
Initially, Ohio State offered to vacate its entire 2010 season, return money received from the 2011 Sugar Bowl, impose two years of probation, and use five fewer football scholarships over the next three seasons. However, after the school went before the NCAA, further rules violations emerged. Three players were suspended before the start of the season for receiving $200 from a booster. Then, midway through the season, it was discovered that the same booster had overpaid several players for summer jobs.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Infractions, investigations, and scandals, Ohio State
The NCAA announced its final penalties on December 20. While accepting Ohio State's initial self-imposed penalties, it levied additional sanctions. One extra year of probation and scholarship reductions was added, running through the 2014 season. The Buckeyes will also be banned from postseason play in 2012. Tressel, who joined the staff of the Indianapolis Colts during the 2011 NFL season and has since taken a non-athletic position at his alma mater of the University of Akron, was hit with a five-year show-cause penalty, which effectively bars him from college coaching through the 2016 season. Finally, the school was required to disassociate itself from Pryor for five years.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Infractions, investigations, and scandals, North Carolina
The North Carolina Tar Heels, in the midst of an NCAA investigation into improper benefits and academic misconduct within the football program, fired head coach Butch Davis on July 27.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Infractions, investigations, and scandals, North Carolina
The school initially vacated its 2008 and 2009 seasons, reduced its scholarship allotment by nine over the next three seasons, and self-imposed two years of probation. Although the NCAA praised the university for its investigation, it found several aggravating factors. The NCAA confirmed academic fraud, found that players had received at least $31,000 in impermissible benefits, determined that six players had played while ineligible, and also found evidence of rampant agent involvement in the program. The NCAA added an extra year of probation, and also banned the Tar Heels from the 2012 postseason. John Blake, an assistant who had been forced out with Davis, was found to have received personal loans from agent Gary Wichard that he did not report to UNC, specifically for access to players. He was also cited for not cooperating with investigators. Blake received a three-year show-cause penalty.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Infractions, investigations, and scandals, Miami
On August 16, Yahoo! Sports broke a story in which former Miami Hurricanes booster Nevin Shapiro, currently imprisoned for running a Ponzi scheme, stated that from 2002 through 2010 he had given massive amounts of improper benefits to Miami players and coaches, mostly in football but also in men's basketball. Shapiro indicated that the benefits included cash, various goods, prostitutes, and even an abortion.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Infractions, investigations, and scandals, Penn State
On November 5, former Penn State assistant Jerry Sandusky was indicted on multiple felony charges of sex abuse against minors. Two other high-ranking Penn State administrators—athletic director Tim Curley and vice president for business and finance Gary Schultz (whose job includes supervision of the university police department)—were charged with perjury in the case. The day after the indictments, the university Board of Trustees held an emergency meeting, at which Curley requested to be placed on administrative leave and Schultz stepped down.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Infractions, investigations, and scandals, Penn State
Paterno, who had received notice of inappropriate behavior by Sandusky in 2002 and had reported the allegations to university administrators (though not to police), was not charged or implicated in any wrongdoing. On November 9, he announced his retirement effective at the end of the season, stating he was "absolutely devastated by the developments in this case." However, hours later, the Penn State Board of Trustees fired Paterno, effective immediately.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Regular season top 10 matchups
Rankings reflect the AP Poll. Rankings for Week 8 and beyond will list BCS Rankings first and AP Poll second. Teams that failed to be a top 10 team for one poll or the other will be noted.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Conference summaries
Rankings reflect the Week 14 AP Poll before the games were played.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Awards and honors, Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player.


2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season, Coaching changes, Preseason and in-season
This is restricted to coaching changes that took place on or after May 1, 2011. For coaching changes that occurred earlier in 2011, see 2010 NCAA Division I FBS end-of-season coaching changes.


2011 NCAA Division I FCS football rankings, Preseason polls
Various publications release their preseason top 25 months before the season commences.


2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season
The 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The season began on September 1, 2011, and concluded with the 2012 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game on January 7, 2012, at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. North Dakota State won their first FCS championship, defeating Sam Houston State by a final score of 17–6.


2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Teams transitioning to FBS
In addition to UTSA, three other schools began transitions to the FBS. They are subject to the same restrictions as UTSA regarding postseason eligibility until 2013.


2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season, Playoff qualifiers, At large qualifiers
No teams from the conferences that do not have automatic bids—currently the Great West Conference and Pioneer Football League—received bids.


2011 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship
The 2011 NCAA Division I Field Hockey Championship was the 31st women's collegiate field hockey tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, to determine the top college field hockey team in the United States. The Maryland Terrapins won their seventh championship, defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels in the final, a rematch of the previous year's final. The semifinals and championship were hosted by the University of Louisville at Trager Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.


2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game
The 2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game was a postseason college football game between the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens and the Eastern Washington Eagles. It was played on January 7, 2011, at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. The culminating game of the 2010 NCAA Division I FCS football season, it was won by Eastern Washington, 20–19.


2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game
This was the first FCS (formerly Division I-AA) title game played in Frisco, after the prior 13 editions had been contested at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, Tennessee. With the tournament field expanded from 16 to 20 teams, this was also the first time for the title game to be contested in January.


2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, Teams
The participants of the Championship Game were the finalists of the 2010 FCS Playoffs, which began with a 20-team bracket. This was the first season of 20 teams in the tournament field; it had been 16 teams since 1986.


2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, Teams, Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens
Delaware finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (6–2 in conference). As the third-seed in the tournament, the Fightin' Blue Hens defeated Lehigh, New Hampshire, and Georgia Southern to reach the final. This was Delaware's fourth appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA title game, having previously won in 2003, and having lost in 1982 and 2007.


2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, Teams, Eastern Washington Eagles
Eastern Washington finished their regular season with a 9–2 record (7–1 in conference), with one of their losses coming to Nevada of the FBS. As the fifth-seed in the tournament, the Eagles defeated Southeast Missouri State, North Dakota State, and Villanova to reach the final. This was Eastern Washington's first appearance in an FCS/Division I-AA championship game.


2011 NCAA Division I Football Championship Game, Game summary
Delaware held a 12–0 lead at halftime and had extended their lead to 19–0 with under five minutes remaining in the third quarter, only to see Eastern Washington score three touchdowns in the remainder of the game to win the title, 20–19.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game
The 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game was the title game of the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament and it determined the national champion for the 2010-11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The 2011 National Title Game was played on April 4, 2011 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, and featured the 2011 West Regional Champions, #3-seeded Connecticut, and the 2011 Southeast Regional Champions, #8 seeded Butler.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game
For the 1st time since the 1989 National Championship Game, neither a #1 nor a #2 seed participated in the National Championship Game.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, Butler
Butler had made it back to the National Championship for the second year in a row after losing their best player and eventual NBA star Gordon Hayward of the Charlotte Hornets. They were able to come back into the post season trying to play the cinderella team that they were the previous year. They were seeded as the #8 spot when in fact they had played and won in some very important games that impressed the college basketball sports world. The Butler basketball team was able to pull off upset after upset, game winning shot after game winning shot.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, Butler
Matt Howard made the game winning free throw against The University Pittsburgh after they were losing by one and Matt was fouled 86 feet away from the basket. That wouldn’t be the final of their close calls for this tournament, nor was it their first. Their first game they won by two points, then the close call with Pittsburgh, followed up by an exciting game which led to overtime against Florida in which Butler was able to come out victorious with the win.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, Connecticut
Connecticut was a perennial powerhouse but after having a mediocre season, according to Greg Anthony, and finishing 9th in the Big East play. They were not expected to do much in the tournament. Aside from the poor regular season play, Connecticut was able to walk through their first three games without much struggle and was able to get wins over teams that were expected to do well in the tournament.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Participants, Connecticut
Behind the phenomenal play of Kemba Walker, who is now a star for the Boston Celtics in the NBA and who was able to put up a solid stat line, the team continued to advance. After those three games, they started playing teams that had potential to win the championship and Walker continued to show why he was one of the best players in the tournament.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Starting lineups
Selected in an NBA Draft   (number corresponds to draft round)


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game summary, Summary
For the first time since 1989 there was not a number one or number 2 seed team in the championship game. Butler is only the second #8 seed to make it the championship game when Villanova took down top seeded Georgetown 66-64.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game summary, Summary
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 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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game summary, Summary
Butler led at halftime 22–19, but suffered in the second half from poor shooting, making only 6 out 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, 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 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. 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.”


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game summary, First half
Along with the poor offensive performance form both teams, Butler managed to shoot an extremely low 18% from the floor. Shelvin Mack of Butler made a three pointer with less than 10 seconds left to make it 22-19 heading into halftime. This was one of the worst offensive games and shooting performances by any team in college all year long. According to Greg Anthony, long time sports broadcaster and basketball player himself, said “This is the worst half of basketball I've ever seen in a national championship game”


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game summary, Second half
The second half was no better for Butler going 6 for 37 to end the game. On the other hand, University of Connecticut came out a little hot. They started how they left off, with a huge three. After that shot fell the rest of the players on Connecticut started to heat up, including star, Kemba Walker. Although they didn't go on any huge runs to extend the lead tremendously, they were able to push it up to 14 when they had the score 30-44 with about three to four minutes left in the second half.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship Game, Game summary, Second half
Butler was able to get within nine making 49-40 but at that point with 1:31 left on the clock it was out of reach with the way their shooting was going for them. Connecticut's last 8 points were all free throws concluding the game and sealing the deal for the win with a final score of 53-41.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament was a single-elimination tournament involving 68 teams to determine the national champion of the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball 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. The "South" and "Midwest" regional games were replaced by the monikers "Southeast" and "Southwest" for this tournament, due to the geographical location of New Orleans and San Antonio, respectively.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Connecticut won its third national championship in the championship game by defeating Butler 53–41.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament
Northern Colorado, winners of the Big Sky Conference, made its first NCAA Division I tournament.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball 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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Schedule and venues
The following sites were selected to host each round of the 2011 tournament:


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Schedule and venues
Reliant Stadium was the 37th new venue to host the Final Four, marking the fortieth anniversary of the previous Final Four in the city, at the neighboring Astrodome. The tournament saw three new arenas and one new host city. For the first, and as of 2018 only, time, the city of Newark proper hosted tournament games, at the Prudential Center, which was the successor venue to the Meadowlands Arena in nearby East Rutherford.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Schedule and venues
The city of Cleveland hosted games for the first time at Quicken Loans Arena, the downtown home of the Cleveland Cavaliers; the two previous appearances for the city were on the campus of Cleveland State University at the Wolstein Center. The city of Tulsa returned to the tournament for the first time since 1985, hosting at the BOK Center, which had opened in 2008. Previous games in the city had been held at the Mabee Center on the campus of Oral Roberts University. As of 2019, this is the last tournament to feature what is now Amalie Arena, McKale Center, the Prudential Center and the Smoothie King Center (New Orleans Arena); Amalie Arena had been scheduled to host in 2020, but the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Qualified teams
This is a list of qualifying teams for the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. A total of 68 teams entered the tournament. Thirty of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which does not conduct a post-season tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining 37 teams were granted at-large bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. All teams are seeded 1 to 16 within their regionals, while the Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Qualified teams
Team names are those used on ESPN.com scoreboards and team pages.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Automatic bids
Automatic bids to the tournament were granted for winning a conference championship tournament, except for the automatic bid of the Ivy League given to the regular season champion (though Princeton and Harvard were required to break a tie with a one-game playoff). Seeds listed were seeds within the conference tournaments. Runners-up in bold face were given at-large berths.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket
Unless otherwise noted, all times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−04)


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket, First Four – Dayton, Ohio
All games on truTV. First Four winners enter the second round as their respective seed and in their respective region.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket, Game summaries
Consisting of #3-seeded Connecticut, No. 4 Kentucky, No. 8 Butler, and No. 11 Virginia Commonwealth (VCU), the Final Four was considered a result of one of the weakest tournament fields in history. Regarding the four finalists, there was widespread belief that none of them were among the best teams in the nation. 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. 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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket, Game summaries
The first semifinal featured Butler and VCU, with Butler winning 70–62, despite VCU forward Jamie Skeen leading the scoring with 27 points.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket, Game summaries
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket, National Championship
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket, National Championship
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). 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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket, National Championship
The win by Connecticut completed a season-ending 11-game win streak that began with the Big East Tournament.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Bracket, National Championship
The game was widely viewed as a poor quality final. 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."


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, 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, marking the first time every game in the tournament would be telecast on a national basis.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television, Round-by-round game schedule
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television, Round-by-round game schedule
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television, Round-by-round game schedule
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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, Television, Round-by-round game schedule
TruTV had also added coverage of the Reese's College All-Star Game.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, 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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, Media, 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. 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.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams
This is a list of qualifying teams for the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. A total of 68 teams entered the tournament. Thirty of the teams earned automatic bids by winning their conference tournaments. The automatic bid of the Ivy League, which does not conduct a post-season tournament, went to its regular season champion. The remaining 37 teams were granted at-large bids, which are extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. All teams are seeded 1 to 16 within their regionals, while the Selection Committee seeded the entire field from 1 to 68.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams
Team names are those used on ESPN.com scoreboards and team pages.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament: qualifying teams, Automatic bids
Automatic bids to the tournament were granted for winning a conference championship tournament, except for the automatic bid of the Ivy League given to the regular season champion (though Princeton and Harvard were required to break a tie with a one-game playoff). Seeds listed were seeds within the conference tournaments. Runners-up in bold face were given at-large berths.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship
The 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship was a golf tournament contested from May 31 to June 5, 2011 at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma and was hosted by Oklahoma State University. It was the 73rd NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship. The team championship was won by the Augusta State Jaguars who won their second consecutive national championship by defeating the Georgia Bulldogs in the championship match play round 3–2. The individual national championship was won by John Peterson from Louisiana State University.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, Venue
This was the second NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, and the first since 2003, held at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma. It was the third NCAA tournament hosted by Oklahoma State University in 1973, 2003, 2011.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship, Team competition, Leaderboard
The top eight teams advanced to the match play portion of the tournament.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Ice Hockey Tournament involved 16 schools in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. The tournament  began on March 25, 2011, and ended with the championship game on April 9, when the Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs defeated the Michigan Wolverines 3–2.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Tournament procedure
The four regionals are officially named after their geographic areas. The following are the sites for the 2011 regionals:


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Qualifying teams
The at-large bids and seeding for each team in the tournament were announced on March 20. The Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) and Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA), Hockey East, ECAC Hockey and Atlantic Hockey conference tournament winners all secure a spot in the tournament while other at large teams are chosen by the NCAA selection committee.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Media, Television
ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament. For the seventh consecutive year ESPN aired every game, beginning with the regionals, on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, and ESPN3.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Media, Radio
Westwood One used exclusive radio rights to air both the semifinals and the championship, AKA the "Frozen Four."


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
The 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship was the 41st annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national championship for National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's college lacrosse. Sixteen teams were selected to compete in the tournament based upon their performance during the regular season, and for some, by means of a conference tournament.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
The championship game took place on May 30, 2011 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, where Virginia won its fifth NCAA lacrosse championship and seventh college title overall, defeating Maryland 9-7 in the title game. Maryland became only the fourth unseeded team to reach the finals and the second unseeded in a row. This was the first all-ACC title game since the 1986 championship.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship
During the tournament, Virginia head coach Dom Starsia became the winningest coach in Division I men's lacrosse history, earning his 327th career win in the quarterfinals against Cornell, surpassing Jack Emmer's record of 326. In addition, the first-round match between Denver and Villanova, held at Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium on the DU campus on May 15, was historically notable as the first Division I men's tournament game ever to be held west of the Mississippi River.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament was a single-elimination tournament involving 48 teams to determine the champion of the 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The 53rd edition of the tournament began on November 17, 2011 and culminated with the North Carolina Tar Heels defeating the Charlotte 49ers, 1–0, in the final on December 13 at Regions Park in Hoover, Alabama.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament
While the tournament resulted in few upsets, most national soccer headlines were made behind Charlotte's run to the final. The 49ers entered the tournament through an at-large bid, and were not seeded. Despite that, they were able to defeat defending champions, the Akron Zips, 1–0, in the third round, and then the Connecticut Huskies, 4–2, in a penalty shootout to advance to the College Cup. Joining the Tar Heels and the 49ers in the College Cup were the UCLA Bruins and the Creighton Bluejays.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament
With the victory in the national final, the Tar Heels won their second NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship in program history.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Qualified Teams
A total of 48 teams will qualify into the tournament proper, either automatically, or through an at-large bid that is determined by a selection committee. Each conference that field varsity soccer teams are admitted one automatic berth into the tournament. Depending on the conference, that automatic berth is either given the champions of the regular season, or the tournament that culminates the regular season. Twenty-two teams earn automatic bids into the tournament, while 26 enter through an at-large bid.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Format
Like previous editions of the NCAA Division I Tournament, the tournament featured 64 participants out of a possible field of 198 teams. Of the 64 berths, 22 were allocated to the conference tournament or regular season winners. The remaining 42 berths were determined through an at-large process based upon teams' Ratings Percentage Index that did not win their conference tournament. The most at-large berths went to schools from the Big East and Atlantic Coast conferences, containing half of the tournament field's at-large berths (six and five berths, respectively). Of the remaining 11 berths, six were from the Colonial Athletic and Conference USA conferences, each earning three berths.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Format
From there, the NCAA Selection Committee selected the top sixteen seeds for the tournament, that earned an automatic bye to the second round of the tournament. The remaining 48 teams played in a single-elimination match in the first round of the tournament, to play a seeded team in the second round.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Format
Similar to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, each of the tournament rounds were single-elimination. However, matches tied at the end of regulation went to two 10-minute golden goal periods, followed by a penalty shoot-out, if necessary. All matches in the first, second and third rounds, as well as the quarterfinals, were hosted by the higher seed. The College Cup, also known as the semifinals and final for the tournament were held at a neutral venue, this time being at Regions Park in Hoover, Alabama (south of Birmingham.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Schedule
Host team, or higher seed, is listed on the right. Away team or lower seed is listed on the left.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament, Schedule, Second round
Numbers represent the seed the team earned in the tournament.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships
The 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships were contested in March 2011 at the University Aquatic Center at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the 88th annual NCAA-sanctioned swim meet to determine the team and individual national champions of Division I men's collegiate swimming and diving in the United States.


2011 NCAA Division I Men's Swimming and Diving Championships
California topped the team standings, finishing 23.5 points ahead of defending champions Texas. It was the Golden Bears' third overall national title and first since 1980.


2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The 2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships were contested at the 90th annual NCAA-sanctioned track meet to determine the individual and team champions of men's and women's Division I collegiate outdoor track and field in the United States.


2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
This year's meet, the 30th with both men's and women's championships, was held June 8–11, 2011 at Drake Stadium at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.


2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
Two-time defending champions for both men and women, Texas A&M again won both titles, the Aggies' third titles at each of their respective championships.


2011 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division 1 Softball Tournament was held from May 19 through June 8, 2011 as part of the 2011 NCAA Division 1 softball season. The 64 NCAA Division 1 college softball teams were selected out of an eligible 284 teams on May 15, 2011. 30 teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conference, and 34 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division 1 Softball Selection Committee. The tournament culminated with eight teams playing in the 2011 Women's College World Series at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.


2011 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, National Seeds
Teams in "italics" advanced to Super Regionals. Teams in "bold" advanced to Women's College World Series.


2011 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, National Seeds
9. Oklahoma10. Michigan11. Baylor12. Washington13. Oregon14. Tennessee15. Stanford16. Texas A&M


2011 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Women's College World Series, Participants
† Excludes results of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1981.


2011 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Women's College World Series, WCWS Records
Note: The above records exclude those of the pre-NCAA Women's College World Series of 1969 through 1981.


2011 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament, Women's College World Series, Post-Series Notes
Dallas Escobedo and Michelle Moultrie won co-MVP honors. Moultrie batted .542, going 13-for-24 with four home runs and seven RBI; Escobedo pitched 35 innings, surrendering 12 earned runs on 27 hits and 19 walks while striking out 38 to become the fourth freshman to win the WCWS in the NCAA era and the first since 1990.


2011 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships
The 2011 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships were the 65th annual men's and 29th annual women's championships to determine the national champions of NCAA Division I men's and women's singles, doubles, and team collegiate tennis in the United States. The tournaments were played concurrently during May 2011.


2011 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships
Three-time champion USC defeated Virginia in the men's championship, 4–3, to claim the Trojans' then-record nineteenth team national title.


2011 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships
Florida defeated defending champions Stanford in the women's championship, 4–3, to claim the Gators' fifth team national title.


2011 NCAA Division I Tennis Championships, Host site
This year's tournaments were played at the Taube Tennis Center at Stanford University in Stanford, California.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament began on March 19, 2011 and concluded on April 5, 2011. The Texas A&M Aggies won the championship, defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 76–70 in the final held at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament
The tournament was also notable for a historic run by Gonzaga that ultimately ended in the final of the Spokane Region. With the help of two games on their home court and a regional held less than two miles away, the #11-seeded Bulldogs became the lowest seed ever to make a regional final in the history of the women's tournament.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
Pending any changes to the format, a total of 64 teams will enter the 2011 tournament. 32 automatic bids shall be awarded to each program that wins their conference's tournament. The remaining 36 bids are "at-large", with selections extended by the NCAA Selection Committee. The tournament is split into four regional tournaments, and each regional has teams seeded from 1 to 16, with the committee ostensibly making every region as comparable to the others as possible[citation needed]. The top-seeded team in each region plays the #16 team, the #2 team plays the #15, etc. (meaning where the two seeds add up to 17, that team will be assigned to play another).


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
The basis for the subregionals returned to the approach used between 1982 and 2002; the top sixteen teams, as chosen in the bracket selection process, hosted the first two rounds on campus.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Tournament procedure
The Selection Committee will also seed the entire field from 1 to 64.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, 2011 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
There were 64 teams in the tournament, placed in a seeded bracket with four regions. Thirty-two teams received automatic bids – thirty-one of which were their conference tournament champions; the other was for the Ivy League regular-season champion. An additional 32 teams were given at-large bids by the selection committee on the basis of their body of work during the regular season. Unlike the Men's Tournament, there was no "First Four" round.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, 2011 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
The following 16 sites were used for first and second-round games:


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, 2011 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
The Regionals, named for the city rather than the region of geographic importance since 2005, which were held from March 26 to March 29, were at these sites:


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, 2011 NCAA Tournament schedule and venues
This was the second time that Indianapolis hosted a Women's Final Four Basketball tournament; the prior times were in 2005 as per the NCAA's policy of hosting one of each of the men's and women's Final Four every five years in the home city of the NCAA offices.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Qualifying teams – automatic
Sixty-four teams were selected to participate in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Thirty-one conferences were eligible for an automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA tournament. Tennessee continues its record of being present at every NCAA Tournament since the NCAA began sanctioning women's sports in the 1981–82 school year.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Qualifying teams – at-large
Thirty-three additional teams were selected to complete the sixty-four invitations.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Bids by conference
Thirty-one conferences earned an automatic bid. In twenty-one cases, the automatic bid was the only representative from the conference. Thirty-three additional at-large teams were selected from ten of the conferences.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Bids by state
The sixty-four teams came from thirty states, plus Washington, D.C. Texas had the most teams with six bids. Twenty states did not have any teams receiving bids.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Brackets
* – Denotes overtime periodUnless otherwise noted, all times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04)


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Record by conference
Eighteen conferences went 0–1: the America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Ivy League, MEAC, MAC, Missouri Valley, Mountain West, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, SWAC and the Summit


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, Media coverage, Television
ESPN had US television rights to all games during the tournament. For the first and second round, ESPN aired select games nationally on ESPN or ESPNU. All other games were aired regionally on ESPN2 and streamed online via ESPN3. Most of the nation got whip-a-round coverage during this time, which allowed ESPN to rotate between the games and focus the nation on the one that was the closest. The regional semifinals were split between ESPN and ESPN2, and ESPN aired the regional finals, national semifinals, and championship match.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship
The 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship was the 30th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of Division I NCAA women's college lacrosse. The first two rounds of the tournament were played at the home fields of higher-seeded teams from May 14–21, and the semifinal and championship rounds were played at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium in Stony Brook, New York from May 27–29. All NCAA Division I women's lacrosse programs were eligible for this championship, and a total of 16 teams were invited to participate.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship
Northwestern defeated Maryland, 8–7, to win their sixth national championship, and first since 2009. This would subsequently become the sixth of Northwestern's seven national titles in eight years (2005–2009, 2011–12) as well as the seventh of the Wildcats' eight consecutive appearances in the championship game (2005–12). This was also a rematch of the previous year's final, won by Maryland.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship
The leading scorer for the tournament was Shannon Smith from Northwestern (22 goals). Smith was also named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship, Tournament field
A total of 16 teams were invited to participate. 9 teams qualified automatically by winning their conference tournaments while the remaining 7 teams qualified at-large based on their regular season records.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship, Tournament field, Seeds
1. Maryland (18-1)2. Northwestern (17-2)3. North Carolina (13-5)4. Florida (15-3)5. Duke (13-4)6. Loyola (16-2)7. Albany (17-0)8. James Madison (15-3)


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament (also known as the 2011 Women's College Cup) was the 30th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA Division I women's collegiate soccer. The semifinals and championship game were played at Kennesaw State University Soccer Stadium (now known as Fifth Third Bank Stadium) in Kennesaw, Georgia from December 2–4, 2011 while the preceding rounds were played at various sites across the country from November 11–27.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament
Stanford defeated Duke in the final, 1–0, to win their first national title. Stanford had lost the final match of the previous two Women's College Cup tournaments. The undefeated Cardinal (25–0–1) were coached by Paul Ratcliffe. They were the first team to finish the season without a loss since North Carolina in 2003.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament
The Most Outstanding Offensive Player was Teresa Noyola from Stanford, and the Most Outstanding Defensive Player was Emily Oliver, also from Stanford. Noyola and Oliver, alongside nine other players, were named to the All-Tournament Team.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament
The tournament's leading scorer, with 5 goals and 3 assists, was Katie Stengel from Wake Forest.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament, Qualification
All Division I women's soccer programs were eligible to qualify for the tournament. The tournament field remained fixed at 64 teams.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Tournament, Format
Just as before, the final two rounds, deemed the Women's College Cup, were played at a pre-determined neutral site. All other rounds were played on campus sites at the home field of the higher-seeded team although with a few exceptions. The first round was played exclusively on the home fields of higher-seeded teams (noted with an asterisk below). However, the second and third rounds were played on the home fields of the home fields of the two remaining teams in each bracket with the highest seed (generally the #1 and #2 seed in each bracket with a few noted exceptions). Those teams are also noted with asterisk. Finally, the quarterfinal round, or the championship match for each bracket, was played on the home field of the higher-seeded team, with no exceptions.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships
The 2011 NCAA Women's Division I Swimming and Diving Championships were contested at the 30th annual NCAA-sanctioned swim meet to determine the team and individual national champions of Division I women's collegiate swimming and diving in the United States.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships
This year's events were hosted by the University of Texas at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center in Austin, Texas.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Swimming and Diving Championships
California captured this year's team title, finishing 29.5 points ahead of Georgia. It was the Golden Bears' second team title and second title in three seasons.


2011 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Volleyball Tournament began on December 1, 2011 and ended on December 17 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas when UCLA defeated Illinois 3 sets to 1 in the national championship match.


2011 NCAA Division I baseball rankings
The following human polls make up the 2011 NCAA Division I men's baseball rankings for the 2011 NCAA Division I baseball season. The USAToday/ESPN Coaches Poll is voted on by a panel of 31 Division I baseball coaches. The Baseball America poll is voted on by staff members of the Baseball America magazine. These polls rank the top 25 teams nationally. Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association rank the top 30 teams nationally.


2011 NCAA Division I baseball season
The 2011 NCAA Division I baseball season, play of college baseball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began on February 18, 2011. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2011 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament and 2011 College World Series. The College World Series consisted of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament. Although it was held in its annual location of Omaha, Nebraska, it was played at the newly constructed TD Ameritrade Park for the first time. It concluded on June 29, 2011, with the final game of the best of three championship series. South Carolina defeated Florida two games to none to claim their second championship.


2011 NCAA Division I baseball season, Realignment, Dropped programs
Duquesne dropped its varsity baseball program following the 2010 season.


2011 NCAA Division I baseball season, Realignment, Conference changes
New Orleans left the Sun Belt Conference to become a Division I independent.


2011 NCAA Division I baseball season, Preseason
The South Carolina Gamecocks entered the season as defending World Series champions. Among the four major baseball polls there were three different teams ranked preseason #1: the Florida Gators (Baseball America), TCU Horned Frogs (Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA), and UCLA Bruins (Coaches').


2011 NCAA Division I baseball season, Conference winners and tournaments
Of the 31 conferences that sponsored Division I baseball in 2011, 28 sponsored conference tournaments or championship series. With the exception of the Great West Conference, a provisional member of Division I, the winners of these tournaments received their conference's automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament. Programs qualified for the conference tournaments based on their regular season against conference opponents, and tournament formats included double elimination, single elimination, and round robin.


2011 NCAA Division I baseball season, College World Series
The 2011 College World Series began on June 18, 2011 in Omaha, Nebraska. It was the first College World Series in 61 years not played at Rosenblatt Stadium; games were played at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings
Throughout the 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, several sources rank the top men's college soccer programs in the nation based on their results and perceived strength of their opponents. Notable ranking sources include the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, whose poll is the official rankings posted by the NCAA, as well as the Fox Soccer/SBI, Soccer America and TopDrawerSoccer.com polls.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer rankings, National Rankings by week
Italics represent the ranking for non-ranked teams that received votes.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season
The 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season was the 53rd year of organized men's college soccer in the United States.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season
The season was divided into three parts; the regular season, which started with early season tournaments against intraconference opponents, before the second half of the regular season that featured interconference matches. The regular season was held from late August to early November 2011. In mid-November, the conference tournaments were held, and from mid-November to mid-December, the NCAA Tournament was held.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season
The national champion was the North Carolina Tar Heels whom won the title against the Charlotte 49ers. It was North Carolina's third national championship, and Charlotte's first ever appearance in an NCAA final of any sport.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, Season headlines
Throughout the course of the regular season, six different men's college soccer programs topped the rankings. The Connecticut Huskies were ranked first for four consecutive weeks, being the longest streak to do so in the season. At the end of the regular season, the New Mexico Lobos were the only college team in the nation to remain undefeated, winning 16 matches and only drawing twice.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, Changes from 2010, Coaching changes
The following is a list of head coaching changes prior to the start of Division I men's soccer season.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, Season overview, Pre-season polls
Several American soccer outlets posted their own preseason top 25 rankings of what were believed to be the strongest men's collegiate soccer teams entering 2011.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, Regular season, Conference standings
Team won conference tournament and automatic bid in the NCAA tournament. Team earned a berth in NCAA tournament through an at-large bid  Qualified conference tournament, but did not qualify for the NCAA tournament.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, Regular season, Conference regular season and tournament winners
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 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. The Ivy League does not have a conference tournament, instead giving their automatic invitation to their regular-season champion.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, Regular season, Major upsets
In this list, a "major upset" is defined by a team that's ranked 10 or more spots lower, or an unranked team that defeats a team ranked #15 or higher.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, Award winners, NSCAA/Continental Tire Men's NCAA Division I All-America Team
On December 9, 2011, the National Soccer Coaches Association of America released their All-American teams for the 2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The list included a first, second and third team.


2011 NCAA Division I men's soccer season, Award winners, NSCAA/Continental Tire Men's NCAA Division I All-America Team
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2011 NCAA Division I softball season
The 2011 NCAA Division I softball season, play of college softball in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level, began in February 2011. The season progressed through the regular season, many conference tournaments and championship series, and concluded with the 2011 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament and 2011 Women's College World Series. The Women's College World Series, consisting of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament and held in Oklahoma City at ASA Hall of Fame Stadium, ended on June 7, 2011.


2011 NCAA Division I softball season, Women's College World Series
The 2010 NCAA Women's College World Series took place from June 2 to June 7, 2011 in Oklahoma City.


2011 NCAA Division I softball season, Records
Freshman class consecutive games hit streak:36 – Stephanie Tofft, Northern Illinois Huskies; March 4-May 1, 2011


2011 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college basketball as a culmination of the 2010–11 basketball season. The winner was Bellarmine; the tournament's Most Outstanding Player was Jet Chang of runner-up BYU–Hawaii, the first player from a losing team to earn that honor in the Division II tournament since 1998.


2011 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2010 champion Cal Poly Pomona did not qualify for the tournament, while runner-up Indiana (PA) did. Along with Bentley, Midwestern State, and Augusta State, Indiana was one of four teams from the 2010 Elite Eight to qualify.


2011 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Qualification and tournament format
The champions of the 22 Division II basketball conferences qualified automatically. An additional 42 teams were selected as at-large participants by the tournament selection committee. The first three rounds of the tournament were organized in regions comprising eight participants in groups of two or three conferences (two in the Central and Midwest regions). The eight regional winners then met at the Elite Eight for the final three rounds held at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.


2011 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament, Qualification and tournament format, Automatic qualifiers
The following teams automatically qualified for the tournament as the winner of their conference tournament championships:


2011 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament involves 64 schools playing in a single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of women's NCAA Division II college basketball as a culmination of the 2010–11 basketball season.


2011 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament, Qualification and tournament format
The champions of the 22 basketball conferences qualify automatically. An additional 42 teams are selected as at-large participants by the selection committee. The first three rounds of the tournament are organized in regions comprising eight participants in groups of two or three conferences (two in the Central and Midwest regions). The eight regional winners then meet at the Elite Eight for the final three rounds held at the St. Joseph Civic Arena in St. Joseph, Missouri.


2011 NCAA Division II Women's Basketball Tournament, Qualification and tournament format, Automatic qualifiers
The following teams automatically qualified for the tournament as the winner of their conference championships:


2011 NCAA Division II football rankings
The 2011 NCAA Division II football rankings are from the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA). This is for the 2011 season.


2011 NCAA Division II football season
The 2011 NCAA Division II football season, part of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association at the Division II level, began on September 1, 2011, and concluded with the NCAA Division II Football Championship on December 17, 2011 at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama, hosted by the University of North Alabama. The Pittsburg State Gorillas defeated the Wayne State Warriors, 35–21, to win their second Division II national title.


2011 NCAA Division II football season
The Harlon Hill Trophy was awarded to Jonas Randolph, running back from Mars Hill.


2011 NCAA Division II football season, Conference and program changes
Ohio Dominican completed their transition to Division II and became eligible for the postseason.


2011 NCAA Division II football season, Conference summaries
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Winston-Salem StateGreat American Conference – Ouachita BaptistGreat Lakes Football Conference – UrbanaGreat Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – HillsdaleGreat Northwest Athletic Conference – Humboldt StateGulf South Conference – Delta State Lone Star Conference – Midwestern StateMid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association – Pittsburg StateNortheast-10 Conference – New HavenNorthern Sun Intercollegiate Conference – Minnesota–Duluth (North) and Minnesota State–Mankato (South)Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference – KutztownRocky Mountain Athletic Conference –  CSU PuebloSouth Atlantic Conference – Lenoir-Rhyne and Mars HillSouthern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – MilesWest Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – Concord (WV)


2011 NCAA Division II football season, Postseason
The 2011 NCAA Division II Football Championship playoffs were the 38th single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division II college football. The championship game was held at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama for the 24th time.


2011 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament was played at the end of the 2011 NCAA Division III baseball season to determine the 36th national champion of college baseball at the NCAA Division III level. The tournament concluded with eight teams competing at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wisconsin for the championship. Eight regional tournaments were held to determine the participants in the World Series. Regional tournaments were contested in double-elimination format, with four regions consisting of six teams, one consisting of seven, and three consisting of eight, for a total of 55 teams participating in the tournament. The tournament champion was Marietta, who defeated Chapman for the championship.


2011 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament, Regionals, Midwest Regional
Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium-Whitewater, WI (Host: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)


2011 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament, Regionals, New York Regional
Leo Pinckney Field at Falcon Park-Auburn, NY (Host: State University of New York at Cortland)


2011 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament, World Series
Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium-Grand Chute, WI (Host: University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh/Lawrence University/Fox Cities Convention and Visitors Bureau)


2011 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament was a single-elimination tournament to determine the men's collegiate basketball national champion of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. The tournament began on March 3, 2011. The tournament consists of 61 teams arranged in four sections. The top three teams earn a bye to the second round. The other 58 teams compete in the first round. The first two rounds in each section are held at campus location: four sites per section. The third and fourth rounds take place at the sectional location. The national semifinals and national championship will be held at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Virginia.


2011 NCAA Division III Men's Basketball Tournament
Forty-two teams were granted automatic bids as the champion of their conference. One independent team was selected, and 18 teams were selected as at-large participants.


2011 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2011 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 2010–11 season, the 28th such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with St. Norbert defeating Adrian in the championship game 4-3. All First Round and Quarterfinal matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played at the Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


2011 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Qualifying teams
The following teams qualified for the tournament. Automatic bids were offered to the conference tournament champion of seven different conferences. Four at-large bids were available for the highest-ranked non-conference tournament champions (overall seed in parentheses).


2011 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The tournament featured four rounds of play. All rounds were Single-game elimination. The top four ranked teams received byes into the quarterfinal round  and were arranged so that were they all to reach the national semifinal, the first overall seed would play the fourth seed while the second seed would play the third seed.


2011 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
The two lowest-seeded western teams were placed in the same first round match with the winner advancing to play the top western seed which was also the first overall seed. The eastern teams were arranged so that if the third seed were to win it would advance to play the fourth overall seed, if the fourth eastern seed were to win it would play the third overall seed and if the fifth eastern seed were to win it would advance to play the second overall seed.


2011 NCAA Division III Men's Ice Hockey Tournament, Format
Because the third overall seed was a western team, the fourth eastern seed was advanced to quarterfinal round so that it would have time to travel. This caused the third eastern team to play the seventh eastern seed and the fifth eastern seed to play the sixth eastern seed in the first round. In the First Round and Quarterfinals the higher-seeded team served as host.


2011 NCAA Division III football season
The 2011 NCAA Division III football season, part of the college football season organized by the NCAA at the Division III level in the United States, began in August 2011, and concluded with the NCAA Division III Football Championship, also known as the Stagg Bowl, in December 2011 at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia. The Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks won their fourth, and third consecutive, Division III championship by defeating the Mount Union Purple Raiders, 13−10. This was the seventh of seven straight championship games between Mount Union (3 wins) and Wisconsin–Whitewater (4 wins).


2011 NCAA Division III football season
The Gagliardi Trophy, given to the most outstanding player in Division III football, was awarded to Michael Zweifel, wide receiver from Dubuque.


2011 NCAA Division III football season, Postseason
The 2011 NCAA Division III Football Championship playoffs were the 39th annual single-elimination tournament to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division III college football. The championship Stagg Bowl game was held at Salem Football Stadium in Salem, Virginia for the 19th time.


2011 NCAA Division III football season, Postseason, Qualification
Twenty-five conferences met the requirements for an automatic ("Pool A") bid to the playoffs. Besides the NESCAC, which does not participate in the playoffs, the UAA had no Pool A bid, failing to meet the seven-member requirement. The ECFC and UMAC received Pool A bids for the first time, having passed through the two-year waiting period.


2011 NCAA Division III football season, Postseason, Qualification
Schools not in Pool A conferences were eligible for Pool B. The number of Pool B bids was determined by calculating the ratio of Pool A conferences to schools in those conferences and applying that ratio to the number of Pool B schools. The 25 Pool A conferences contained 220 schools, an average of 8.8 teams per conference. Nine schools were in Pool B, enough for one bid.


2011 NCAA Division III football season, Postseason, Qualification
The remaining six playoff spots were at-large ("Pool C") teams.


2011 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
An All-American team is an honorary sports team composed of the best amateur players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply "All-Americans". Although the honorees generally do not compete together as a unit, the term is used in U.S. team sports to refer to players who are selected by members of the national media. Walter Camp selected the first All-America team in the early days of American football in 1889.


2011 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
The 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans are honorary lists that include All-American selections from the Associated Press (AP), the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), the Sporting News (TSN), and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) for the 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. All selectors choose at least a first and second 5-man team. The NABC, TSN and AP choose third teams, while AP also lists honorable mention selections.


2011 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
The Consensus 2011 College Basketball All-American team is determined by aggregating the results of the four major All-American teams as determined by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since United Press International was replaced by TSN in 1997, the four major selectors have been the aforementioned ones. AP has been a selector since 1948, NABC since 1957 and USBWA since 1960. To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors based on a point system computed from the four different all-America teams.


2011 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
The point system consists of three points for first team, two points for second team and one point for third team. No honorable mention or fourth team or lower are used in the computation. The top five totals plus ties are first team and the next five plus ties are second team.


2011 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
Although the aforementioned lists are used to determine consensus honors, there are numerous other All-American lists. The ten finalists for the John Wooden Award are described as Wooden All-Americans. The ten finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award are described as Senior All-Americans. Other All-American lists include those determined by Fox Sports, and Yahoo! Sports. The scholar-athletes selected by College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) are termed Academic All-Americans.


2011 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, 2011 Consensus All-America team
The following players are recognized as the 2011 Consensus All-Americans:


2011 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, Academic All-Americans
On February 22, 2011, CoSIDA and ESPN The Magazine announced the 2011 Academic All-America team, with Matt Howard headlining the University Division as the men's college basketball Academic All-American of the Year. The following is the 2010–11 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Men's Basketball Team (University Division) as selected by CoSIDA:


2011 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, Senior All-Americans
The ten finalists for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award are called Senior All-Americans. The 10 honorees are as follows:


2011 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Tournament
The 2011 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Ice Hockey Tournament involved eight schools in single-elimination play that determined the national champion of women's NCAA Division I college ice hockey. The Frozen Four was hosted by Mercyhurst College at Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pennsylvania.


2011 NCAA Rifle Championships
The 2011 NCAA Rifle Championships were contested at the 32nd annual NCAA-sanctioned competition to determine the team and individual national champions of co-ed collegiate rifle shooting in the United States.


2011 NCAA Rifle Championships
The championships were held at the United States Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia and hosted by nearby Columbus State University.


2011 NCAA Rifle Championships
Kentucky won the team championship, the Wildcats' first NCAA national title in rifle.


2011 NCAA Rifle Championships, Qualification
With only one national collegiate championship for rifle shooting, all NCAA rifle programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of eight teams contested this championship.


2011 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship
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2011 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship
The 2011 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship was held in the Wolstein Center, at Cleveland, Ohio on April 15–17, 2011. Twelve teams from the six regional meets advanced to the NCAA Division I national team and individual titles. The Alabama Crimson Tide were the 2011 national champions.


2011 NCAA Women's Gymnastics Championship
Regional Championships were held on April 2, 2011 at the following six sites:


2011 NCAA football bowl games
In college football, 2011 NCAA football bowl games may refer to:


2011 NCAA men's college soccer season
The 2011 NCAA men's college soccer season may refer to:


2011 NCBA Division I World Series
The 2011 National Club Baseball Association (NCBA) Division I World Series was played at Golden Park in Columbus, GA from May 27 to June 2. The eleventh tournament's champion was East Carolina University. The Most Valuable Player of the tournament was Maurice Mackey of East Carolina University.


2011 NCBA Division I World Series, Format
The format for the NCBA Division I World Series was modified in 2011. From 2001 to 2010, there were two separate four team double elimination brackets similar to the NCAA College World Series with the exception a one-game championship between the two bracket winners.


2011 NCBA Division I World Series, Format
Starting in 2011, the losers of Games 1-4 were sent to the other half of the bracket. With this format, there could be a possibility of two teams meeting in the first round playing in the national championship game (this happened in this World Series as East Carolina and Florida State met in the first round and played each other in the title game).


2011 NCBA Division II World Series
The 2011 National Club Baseball Association (NCBA) Division II World Series was played at Point Stadium in Johnstown, PA from May 20 to May 24. The fourth tournament's champion was Penn State University.


2011 NCBA Division II World Series, Format
The format for the NCBA Division II World Series was modified in 2011. From 2008 to 2010, there were two separate four team double elimination brackets similar to the NCAA College World Series with the exception a one-game championship between the two bracket winners. Another difference which is between NCBA Division I and II is that Division II games are 7 innings while Division I games are 9 innings.


2011 NCBA Division II World Series, Format
Starting in 2011, the losers of Games 1-4 were sent to the other half of the bracket. With this format, there could be a possibility of two teams meeting in the first round playing in the national championship game.


2011 NCBA Division II World Series, Participants
† denotes school also fielded an NCBA Division I team that season


2011 NEAFL season
The 2011 NEAFL season was the inaugural season of the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL). The season began on Saturday, 2 April and concluded on Saturday, 24 September with the NEAFL Grand Final. NT Thunder were the Northern Division Champions after defeating Morningside in the Northern Conference Grand Final, whilst Ainslie defeated the Sydney Swans reserves in the Eastern Conference Grand Final to become the Eastern Conference Champions. The Cross Conference Grand Final resulted in NT Thunder defeating Ainslie, ultimately resulting in becoming the 2011 NEAFL Premiers.


2011 NEAFL season, League structure
The league is split into two divisions called the North division and the East division. The North division comprises nine teams based in South East Queensland (five in Brisbane and four on the Gold Coast) as well as one based in the Northern Territory. The East division contains five teams based in the Australian Capital Territory and two based in Sydney. The top three teams from the 2010 QAFL and the top team from the 2010 AFL Canberra season all qualified for the Foxtel Cup.


2011 NECBL All-Star Game
The 2011 NECBL All-Star Game was the 18th exhibition game between all-stars from the New England Collegiate Baseball League's East and West Divisions. The game was held at Fraser Field in Lynn, Massachusetts, the home field of the East Division's North Shore Navigators, who are the defending champions of the NECBL. The East Division defeated the West Division 3–1, with Newport's Jack Reinheimer named the game's MVP.


2011 NECBL All-Star Game, Rosters
The following is a list of the rosters of both the East and West Division All-Star teams.


2011 NECBL playoffs
The 2011 NECBL playoffs is the postseason tournament of the New England Collegiate Baseball League for the 2011 season. It consists of eight teams competing in three rounds of best-of-three series. In the championship round, the West Division Keene Swamp Bats defeated the East Division Laconia Muskrats 2 games to 0.


2011 NECBL playoffs, Format
The 2011 NECBL playoffs consists of three rounds, a Division Semifinal, Division Final, and Championship Series. Competing teams consist of the four best-record teams from both the West Division and the East Division. These teams are seeded #1 through #4 according to their regular season record. In each division, the #1 seed plays the #4 seed and the #2 seed plays the #3 seed in the Division Semifinal round. The two winners of these series will advance to the Division Finals. The winner of the round captures the Division Championship, one for both the East and West divisions.


2011 NECBL playoffs, Format
The two division champions will face each other in the Championship Series to decide the NECBL champion. All rounds consist of a best-of-three series in which the first game and third game (if necessary) of each series are played at the higher seed's home field and the second game was played at the lower seed's home field. If identically seeded teams from opposite divisions met in the Championship Series the NECBL tiebreaker rules would be utilized.


2011 NECBL playoffs, Division Semifinals
The Division Semifinals, the first playoff round, consisted of matchups between each division's #1 and #4 seeds and #2 and #3 seeds.


2011 NECBL playoffs, Division Semifinals, West Division
In the West Division, the Division Semifinal matchups were as follows: #1 Keene versus #4 Danbury, #2 Holyoke versus #3 Vermont.


2011 NECBL playoffs, Division Semifinals, East Division
In the East Division, the Division Semifinal matchups were the same as last year: #1 Newport versus #4 Laconia, #2 North Shore versus #3 Sanford.


2011 NECBL playoffs, Division Finals, West Division
In the West Division, the Divisional Championship match up was as follows: #1 Keene versus #2 Holyoke,


2011 NECBL playoffs, Division Finals, East Division
In the East Division, the Divisional Championship match up was as follows: #3 Sanford versus #4 Laconia,


2011 NECBL playoffs, Championship Series
The NECBL Championship Series, the final playoff round, consists of a matchup of the West Division's #1 seed Keene against the East Division's #4 seed Laconia


2011 NECBL season
The 2011 NECBL season was the 18th season of the New England Collegiate Baseball League, a wood bat collegiate summer baseball league. Changes for 2011 included the league's Lowell, Massachusetts franchise, the Lowell All-Americans, moving to Old Orchard Beach, Maine to become the Old Orchard Beach Raging Tide; while the Bristol, Connecticut franchise, the Bristol Collegiate Baseball Club, will move to Mystic, Connecticut to become the Mystic Schooners. In the championship series, the Keene Swamp Bats defeated the Laconia Muskrats 2 games to 0 for their 3rd NECBL Championship.


2011 NECBL season, All-star game
The NECBL's 2011 All-Star Game was hosted by the East Division's North Shore Navigators at Fraser Field in Lynn, Massachusetts. The East Division defeated the West Division 3-1.


2011 NFL Draft
The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, over three days: this year, the first round took place on Thursday, April 28, 2011; the second and third rounds took place on Friday, April 29; with the final four rounds on Saturday, April 30, 2011. The Carolina Panthers, who had the worst record for the 2010 NFL season at 2–14, had the right to the first selection in the draft, where they selected Auburn University quarterback Cam Newton, who was the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner.


2011 NFL Draft
A second Heisman Trophy winner, running back Mark Ingram Jr. from Alabama was selected by New Orleans late in the first round. This was the eleventh draft which included multiple Heisman winners, and the first time ever that it has occurred in consecutive drafts (Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow in 2010). Five of the first six picks played college football in the  Southeastern Conference (SEC). For the second consecutive year—and the third time in NFL history—the top two selections of the draft won Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year awards, respectively.


2011 NFL Draft
The top two picks in the draft, Cam Newton and Denver linebacker Von Miller, played against each other in Super Bowl 50 on the teams that drafted them. This marked the first time that the top two picks in a single draft faced each other in the Super Bowl. The Broncos won, with Miller winning Super Bowl MVP.


2011 NFL Draft
Teams were allowed ten minutes to make each selection in the first round, seven minutes per selection in the second round and five minutes in each of the subsequent rounds. The time allotment ran out for the Baltimore Ravens on their first round pick, allowing the Kansas City Chiefs to move up to the 26th pick and dropping the Ravens to the 27th pick.


2011 NFL Draft
It is considered one of the best drafts of contemporary times, with many players showing Hall of Fame level talent, including three-time Defensive Player of the Year J. J. Watt, 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton, Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller, 2015 and 2018 receiving yards leader Julio Jones, and perennial All-Pro players such as Richard Sherman, A. J. Green, Tyron Smith, Jason Kelce, and Patrick Peterson.


2011 NFL Draft
The following is the breakdown of the 254 players selected by position:


2011 NFL Draft, Impact of labor situation
Despite an ongoing labor dispute between league owners and players over a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), a provision in the expired CBA ensured that this draft would still take place, despite the fact that the owners had imposed a lockout to prevent the start of the league year. Fans in attendance at the draft expressed their displeasure with the lockout by booing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell during the event and chanting "We want football."


2011 NFL Draft, Impact of labor situation
Due to the labor situation and the lockout, franchises were not able to trade players for draft selections (trades involving only selections were permitted), and were unable to sign or even contact drafted or undrafted players until the lockout was lifted. Because of the lockout, the Panthers could not sign or even negotiate with their first draft pick before the draft began, as other teams have done in years past.


2011 NFL Draft, Impact of labor situation
The restriction on trading players extended to players selected in this draft—teams were unable to swap any player once selected, e.g. as happened in 2004 when the San Diego Chargers and New York Giants completed a draft day trade involving Eli Manning and Philip Rivers who had been selected first and fourth respectively. In addition, with no agreement in place between owners and players mandating future drafts, teams were advised by the league that any trades involving future draft picks would be made at the teams' "own risk". This warning did not dissuade several teams from making trades involving future selections.


2011 NFL Draft, Impact of labor situation
The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) considered plans to dissuade potential prospects from attending the draft, but a record 25 potential draftees attended the event, including Von Miller, who was one of the named plaintiffs in the players' antitrust lawsuit against the league.


2011 NFL Draft, Early entrants
A record 56 underclassmen announced their intention to forgo their remaining NCAA eligibility and declare themselves eligible to be selected in the draft. Of the 56 eligible underclassmen, 43 (or 76.8%) were drafted.


2011 NFL Draft, Early entrants
The selection of Newton, a junior, marked the third straight draft where the first overall selection was an underclassman. Since non-seniors were first eligible to be drafted in 1990, fourteen first overall picks (including six of the last seven) have been players who have entered the draft early. Eight of the first ten players chosen in this draft were non-seniors, which broke the record of six set in 1997 and matched in 2006. Jake Locker and Von Miller were the only two seniors among the first ten draftees.


2011 NFL Draft, Determination of draft order
The draft order is based generally on each team's record from the previous season, with teams which qualified for the postseason selecting after those which failed to make the playoffs.


2011 NFL Draft, Supplemental draft
A supplemental draft was held on August 22, 2011. For each player selected in the supplemental draft, the team forfeits its pick in that round in the draft of the following season. Six players were available in the supplemental draft, but only one was selected.


2011 NFL Draft, Trades
In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.


2011 NFL Draft, Selections by college conference
The players selected in this draft played in the following college football athletic conferences (Division I FBS or FCS unless otherwise indicated):


2011 NFL lockout
The 2011 National Football League Player lockout was a work stoppage imposed by the owners of the NFL's 32 teams that lasted from March 12, 2011, to July 25, 2011. When the owners and the NFL players, represented by the National Football League Players Association, could not come to a consensus on a new collective bargaining agreement, the owners locked out the players from team facilities and shut down league operations.


2011 NFL lockout
The major issues disputed were the salary cap, players' safety and health benefits, revenue sharing and television contracts, transparency of financial information, rookie salaries, season length, and free agency guidelines. During the 18-week, 4-day period, there was no free agency and training camp, and players were restricted from seeing team doctors, entering or working out at team facilities, or communicating with coaches. The end of the lockout coincided with the formation of a new collective bargaining agreement prior to the start of the 2011 regular season.


2011 NFL lockout, Background
In 1992, the National Football League (NFL) and the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) came to terms on a collective bargaining agreement. This agreement was renewed four times. In May 2008, the owners decided to opt out of the 1993 arrangement and play the 2010 season without a salary cap due to the 2010 season being the last year of the CBA. That last labor agreement gave players 57 percent of the league's $8 billion in revenue, after the owners took more than $1 billion for operating and development costs of the league.


2011 NFL lockout, Background
A major reason the owners opted out of the CBA early was that they wanted a larger percentage of league revenue. Part of the previous CBA involved a transfer of revenues from the higher earning teams to the lowest, even though some of the higher earners also had higher costs.


2011 NFL lockout, Background
The players, represented as the National Football League Players Association, were very skeptical that the owners were losing money as a result of their payments to players, and believed the labor dispute was deliberately generated by some owners in order to renegotiate their own revenue sharing agreements which are attached to the CBA. The players resisted any pay cuts across the board.


2011 NFL lockout, Background
The major changes the owners wanted implemented in the next agreement were to significantly reduce the players' percentage of revenue, to extend the regular season from 16 to 18 games, and establish a rookie wage scale and/or rookie salary cap that would limit first-round draft pick compensation. The players wanted guaranteed a higher percentage of league wide spending and cash spend by every team per the salary cap on players, more benefits for former players, and changes made to improve health and safety including offseason and in-season training.


2011 NFL lockout, Background
Anticipating an owner-imposed lockout, players on every team voted unanimously in Fall 2010 to agree to renounce collective bargaining rights if a CBA extension could not be reached prior to expiration of the current CBA. Renunciation of CBA rights would expose the owners to potential antitrust lawsuits. The players would then lose the ability to collectively bargain with the owners. The league is exempt from most facets of antitrust laws as a result of Public Law 89-800, passed in the wake of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970, thus complicating any potential lawsuit against the league.


2011 NFL lockout, Background
The NFL hired firms to lobby members of the U.S. Congress on their behalf, and the NFL's political action committee, Gridiron PAC, made several large donations to lawmakers who oversee the league in numerous capacities, as well as several other influential lawmakers. The players union also hired firms to lobby members of the U.S. Congress on their behalf, claiming that a lockout could potentially cost each NFL city $160 million in lost business, based on a study by consulting firm Edgeworth Economics. Congressmen also indicated a willingness to intervene if necessary.


2011 NFL lockout, Background
The NFL had negotiated contracts with television networks to provide over $4 billion in 2011 to the NFL even if the owners shut down the league and no games were played in 2011. On March 1, 2011, judge David S. Doty ruled that the NFL had been actively strategizing for a lockout of the players for more than two years. It was determined that the purpose of the NFL's deliberate actions were to "advance its own interests and harm the interests of the players."


2011 NFL lockout, Lockout, Renunciation of CBA rights
Following the end of the 2010 season, the players and owners had not resolved the labor dispute. Although the CBA was set to expire on March 3, the players and the league owners agreed to extend the negotiations by one week, changing the expiration date to March 11, 2011. After a one-week extension, negotiations failed to result in a new agreement. At midnight on March 11, the CBA expired and the owners imposed a lockout. Accordingly, the NFLPA informed the league and the clubs that the players had voted to have the NFLPA renounce its bargaining rights. After the renunciation of collective bargaining rights, quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees joined seven other NFL players and filed an antitrust suit to enjoin the lockout.


2011 NFL lockout, Lockout, Court rulings
On April 25, 2011, U.S. District Court judge Susan Richard Nelson invalidated the lockout and ordered the league to resume operations. The league asked Nelson to stay the order while it appeals to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals; Nelson refused. The NFLPA had advised players to arrive at their teams' stadiums for work uninvited; most teams allowed players to enter the front office but refused further access.


2011 NFL lockout, Lockout, Court rulings
The order to resume operations without any CBA in place left the league in "chaos" because, without a CBA, there were no rules in place regarding a salary cap or floor, free agency, and similar labor-related issues. On April 29, 2011, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the league a temporary stay of Nelson's ruling; the league reinstated the lockout following Day 2 of the draft.