The 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament involved 68 teams playing in a single-elimination tournament that determined the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men's basketball national champion for the 2011-12 season. The 74th edition of the tournament began on March 13, 2012, and concluded with the championship game on April 2, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Final Four consisted of Kentucky, making their second appearance in the Final Four under John Calipari, Louisville, making their second appearance under Rick Pitino and first since 2005, Kansas, making their first appearance since winning the 2008 national championship under head coach Bill Self by defeating Calipari's Memphis team, and Ohio State, making their first appearance since their runner-up finish in 2007 and second under coach Thad Matta. This was the first (and only) tournament that both national semifinals and the national championship game were regular season rematches.Davis, Withey will host block party in final ESPN.com, April 1, 2012 Kentucky defeated Kansas in the championship game 67–59 to win their first national championship since Tubby Smith led the team there in 1998. This was Calipari's first national championship in four trips to the Final Four, having previously gone there with Kentucky in 2011, Memphis in 2008 and Massachusetts in 1996.

Upsets were once again the story of the tournament in 2012, and for the first time ever two #15 seeds won in the same tournament. In the South Region, #15 Lehigh of the Patriot League defeated #2 Duke. In the West Region, #15 Norfolk State of the MEAC, making their first ever NCAA tournament appearance, defeated #2 Missouri as a 21.5 point underdog, the second biggest upset in terms of point spread in NCAA tournament history, behind Fairleigh Dickinson's defeat of Purdue in 2023, where Purdue was a 23.5 point favorite.

In addition to this, Ohio won a game as a double digit seed for the second time in four tournaments as the #13 seed Bobcats defeated #4 seed Michigan to advance to the third round of the Midwest Region. A team from the First Four games also won in the Round of 64 for the second consecutive year as South Florida defeated Midwest #5 seed Temple, setting up a #12 vs. #13 matchup that Ohio won.

VCU, a Final Four team from 2011 as an #11 seed, made the 2012 tournament as a #12 seed and once again made the round of 32 by defeating South #5 seed Wichita State. The South Region saw four double digit seeds win in their opening games, as Colorado and Xavier joined VCU and Lehigh as victors. Xavier advanced to the Sweet Sixteen, where they were defeated by Baylor.

Despite the upsets, all four top seeds advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2009. Three made it to the Elite Eight, as only Michigan State of the West Region lost. Kentucky was the only one to advance to the Final Four as Syracuse and North Carolina lost in their regional finals. This would end up being the last Final Four until 2019 that did not include at least one team seeded #7 or higher, and still is the last Final Four to not include at least one team seeded #5 or higher as of the conclusion of the 2024 season.

Two teams made their first NCAA tournament appearances in school history: MEAC champion Norfolk State and Summit League champion South Dakota State. Ivy League champion Harvard made its first appearance since 1946, ending the longest tournament drought in NCAA history.

All four teams from the state of Ohio (Cincinnati, Ohio, Ohio State, and Xavier) made it to the Sweet 16, marking the first time in tournament history any state has been represented by four teams in the round of 16.Ohio is more than just Buckeye State ESPN.com, March 21, 2012 This tournament was also the first tournament since 1985 to feature no teams in the Sweet 16 from the Mountain or Pacific Time Zones.

Tournament procedure

A total of 68 teams entered the tournament. Thirty out of 31 automatic bids were given to the teams that won their conference tournament. The remaining automatic bid was awarded to the Ivy League regular season champion since they do not hold a conference tournament. The remaining 37 teams were granted "at-large" bids, which were extended by the NCAA Selection Committee on March 11.

Eight teams (the four-lowest seeded automatic qualifiers and the four lowest-seeded at-large teams) played in the First Four. The winners of those games advanced to the main tournament bracket.

For the first time ever, the Selection Committee publicly disclosed the overall rankings for each team, which are listed below.'Hardcore' breakdown of bracket NCAA, March 11, 2012

Schedule and venues

The following are the sites selected to host each round of the 2012 tournament:2012 NCAA tournament information Fox Sports, September 22, 2009First Four to remain in Dayton NCAA, July 8, 2011

First Four March 13 and 14 University of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio (host: University of Dayton)

First and second rounds March 15 and 17 Rose Garden, Portland, Oregon (host: University of Oregon) University Arena ("The Pit"), Albuquerque, New Mexico (host: University of New Mexico) Consol Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (host: Duquesne University) KFC Yum! Center, Louisville, Kentucky (host: University of Louisville) March 16 and 18 Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio (host: Ohio State University) CenturyLink Center Omaha, Omaha, Nebraska (host: Creighton University) Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee (host: Ohio Valley Conference) Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina (host: Atlantic Coast Conference)

Regional semifinals and finals (Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight) March 22 and 24 East Regional TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts (host: Boston College) West Regional US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona (host: Arizona State University) March 23 and 25 Midwest Regional Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri (host: Saint Louis University) South Regional Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia (host: Georgia Institute of Technology)

National semifinals and championship (Final Four and championship) March 31 and April 2 Mercedes-Benz Superdome (host: Tulane University)

New Orleans hosted the Final Four for the fifth time, having previously hosted in 2003.

Qualification and selection teams

Automatic bids The following teams were automatic qualifiers for the 2012 NCAA field by virtue of winning their conference's tournament (except for the Ivy League, whose regular-season champion received the automatic bid).

ConferenceSchoolAppearanceLast bidAmerica EastVermont5th2010Atlantic 10St. Bonaventure6th2000ACCFlorida State14th2011Atlantic SunBelmont5th2011Big 12Missouri25th2011Big EastLouisville38th2011Big SkyMontana9th2010Big SouthUNC Asheville3rd2011Big TenMichigan State26th2011Big WestLong Beach State6th2007ColonialVCU12th2011C-USAMemphis24th2011HorizonDetroit6th1999Ivy LeagueHarvard2nd1946MAACLoyola (MD)2nd1994MACOhio12th2010MEACNorfolk State1stNeverMissouri ValleyCreighton17th2007Mountain WestNew Mexico13th2010NortheastLong Island5th2011Ohio ValleyMurray State15th2010Pac-12Colorado11th2003PatriotLehigh5th2010SECVanderbilt13th2011SouthernDavidson11th2008SouthlandLamar6th2000SWACMississippi Valley State5th2008SummitSouth Dakota State1stNeverSun BeltWestern Kentucky22nd2009West CoastSaint Mary's7th2010WACNew Mexico State19th2010

Tournament seeds (list by region) East Regional – Boston, MassachusettsSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeLast bidOverall rank1 SyracuseBig East31–2At-large201122Ohio StateBig Ten27–7At-large201173Florida StateACC24–9Automatic2011114WisconsinBig Ten24–9At-large2011145VanderbiltSEC24–10Automatic2011186CincinnatiBig East24–10At-large2011227GonzagaWest Coast25–6At-large2011278Kansas StateBig 1221–10At-large2011329Southern MissC-USA25–8At-large19913510West VirginiaBig East19–13At-large20113811TexasBig 1220–13At-large20114312HarvardIvy League26–4Automatic19464613MontanaBig Sky25–6Automatic20105514St. BonaventureAtlantic 1020–11Automatic20005815LoyolaMAAC24–8Automatic19945916UNC AshevilleBig South24–9Automatic201164 Midwest Regional – St. Louis, MissouriSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeLast bidOverall rank1 North CarolinaACC29–5At-large201132KansasBig 1227–6At-large201153GeorgetownBig East23–8At-large2011124MichiganBig Ten24–9At-large2011135TempleAtlantic 1024–7At-large2011176San Diego StateMountain West26–7At-large2011247Saint Mary'sWest Coast27–5Automatic2010268CreightonMissouri Valley28–5Automatic2007299AlabamaSEC21–11At-large20063310PurdueBig Ten21–12At-large20113711NC StateACC22–12At-large20064212*CaliforniaPac-1224–9At-large201045South FloridaBig East20–13At-large19924713OhioMAC27–7Automatic20105214BelmontAtlantic Sun27–7Automatic20115715Detroit MercyHorizon22–13Automatic19996116*LamarSouthland23–11Automatic200065VermontAmerica East23–11Automatic201066 South Regional – Atlanta, GeorgiaSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeLast bidOverall rank1 KentuckySEC32–2At-large201112DukeACC27–6At-large201163BaylorBig 1227–7At-large201094IndianaBig Ten25–8At-large2008155Wichita StateMissouri Valley27–5At-large2006196UNLVMountain West26–8At-large2011217Notre DameBig East22–11At-large2011258Iowa StateBig 1222–10At-large2005309ConnecticutBig East20–13At-large20113410XavierAtlantic 1021–12At-large20114011ColoradoPac-1223–11Automatic20034412VCUColonial28–6Automatic20114913New Mexico StateWAC26–9Automatic20105414South Dakota StateSummit27–7AutomaticNever5615LehighPatriot26–7Automatic20106016*Mississippi Valley StateSWAC21–12Automatic200867Western KentuckySun Belt15–18Automatic200968 West Regional – Phoenix, ArizonaSeedSchoolConference RecordBerth typeLast bidOverall rank1Michigan StateBig Ten27–7Automatic201142MissouriBig 1230–4Automatic201183MarquetteBig East25–7At-large2011104LouisvilleBig East26–9Automatic2011165New MexicoMountain West27–6Automatic2010206Murray StateOhio Valley30–1Automatic2010237FloridaSEC23–10At-large2011288MemphisC-USA26–8Automatic2011319Saint LouisAtlantic 1025–7At-large20003610VirginiaACC22–9At-large20073911Colorado StateMountain West20–11At-large20034112Long Beach StateBig West25–8Automatic20075113DavidsonSouthern25–7Automatic20085314*BYUWest Coast25–8At-large201148IonaMAAC25–7At-large20065015Norfolk StateMEAC25–9AutomaticNever6216LIU-BrooklynNortheast25–8Automatic201163 *See First Four.

Bracket Unless otherwise noted, all times listed are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-04).

First Four – Dayton, Ohio The First Four games involved eight teams: the four overall lowest-ranked teams, and the four lowest-ranked at-large teams.

Both games on March 13 saw historic comebacks: In the opener, Western Kentucky trailed by 16 points with 4:51 remaining before storming back to win 59–58. It was the largest comeback in the last five minutes of an NCAA tournament game; the previous record was 15 by Illinois against Arizona in the 2005 Elite Eight. In the second game of the night, BYU set a record for the largest comeback in an NCAA tournament game, as they were down by 25 points at one point and came back to beat Iona 78–72. The largest previous deficit overcome in the tournament was 22 points by Duke against Maryland in the 2001 national semifinals. In addition, the March 13 session was notable for the attendance of Barack Obama, president of the United States, and David Cameron, prime minister of Great Britain. Cameron was in the U.S. for bilateral political and economic talks with Obama, and attended the Mississippi Valley-Western Kentucky game.

South Regional – Atlanta, Georgia

South regional final

South Regional all-tournament team Regional all-tournament team: Quincy Acy, Baylor; Anthony Davis, Kentucky; Doron Lamb, Kentucky; Christian Watford, Indiana.

Regional most outstanding player: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Kentucky

West Regional – Phoenix, Arizona

West regional final

West Regional all-tournament team