Skip to main content
Come Fan with UsSaturday, June 20, 2026

NCAA Bracket 2012: How UConn Basketball Got To March Madness

The Connecticut Huskies had lofty expectations heading into the 2011-12 NCAA season. The defending NCAA champs fell well short of those expectations, but will have one last chance of redeeming themselves in the 2012 Tournament.

Presswire
Bill Hanstock
Bill Hanstock is a writer, author and Emmy Award-winning producer. He began writing for SB Nation in 2011.

The Connecticut Huskies entered the 2011-12 NCAA basketball season with very lofty expectations. UConn was projected before the season began to emerge as the co-Big East champions along with the Syracuse Orange. Certainly as defending NCAA Champions, the bar was set quite high for the team from the get-go.

The Huskies got their season started on the right foot with a November win over the highly-ranked Florida St. Seminoles and kept the wins rolling all the way through December. Things then hit the skids in January as conference play opened, with UConn losing five of seven games to start 2012. Things didn't improve much in February, as the Huskies lost seven of nine. The team was 20-13 at the end of the regular season, but that included going 8-10 in the Big East.

The Huskies entered the 2012 Big East Tournament as the No. 9 seed. They toppled No. 16 seed DePaul in the opening round, 81-67. They then bested the No. 8 West Virginia Mountaineers in overtime, 71-67. They ran up against the No. 1 seed Syracuse in the quarterfinals and finally the Huskies saw their season come to an end with a close 58-55 win.

UConn picked up the No. 9 seed in the South Region on Selection Sunday and will face Iowa State in the Second Round. The winner moves on to face Kentucky, barring a historic upset.

Join our 2012 NCAA Bracket pool to compete against the best and brightest from around the network.

For more on the 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket, stay with SB Nation’s Selection Sunday StoryStream, and stick around SB Nation’s NCAA Tournament hub for a complete printable NCAA Tournament bracket and tons of analysis on who was snubbed, who got the best bracket, and who will make it all the way to New Orleans and the Final Four.

Check out the SB Nation Channel on YouTube

See More:

More in General

GeneralFromPosting and Toasting
An SB Nation New Yorker needs our helpAn SB Nation New Yorker needs our help
GeneralFromPosting and Toasting
General
Sabastian Sawe breaks 2-hour barrier, shatters marathon world recordSabastian Sawe breaks 2-hour barrier, shatters marathon world record
General

The mythical two-hour mark was broken at the London Marathon.

By Bernd Buchmasser
A Huge Dog
THE HISTORY OF CHARGING THE MOUND, EPISODE 1THE HISTORY OF CHARGING THE MOUND, EPISODE 1
Play
General
Super Bowl 60 coin toss resultsSuper Bowl 60 coin toss results
General

The Seahawks and Patriots will open the Super Bowl with the coin toss to determine who starts with the ball. We have the full coin toss results for Super Bowl 60.

By David Fucillo
General
Marc Marquez completes a comeback for the agesMarc Marquez completes a comeback for the ages
General

MotoGP’s Marc Marquez completed a comeback for the ages with his 2025 title

By Mark Schofield
General
How to make sure SBNation.com appears in your Google search resultsHow to make sure SBNation.com appears in your Google search results