The 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 7, 2011 with the (2K Sports Classic) and ended with the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 2, 2012 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The tournament began with four first-round games on March 13–14, 2012 in Dayton, Ohio, US, followed by second and third rounds on Thursday through Sunday, March 15–18, 2012. Regionals games were played on Thursday through Sunday, March 22–25, 2012, with the Final Four played on Saturday and Monday, March 31 and April 2, 2012.

Kentucky claimed its eighth NCAA title, defeating Kansas 67–59 in the final. Consensus national player of the year Anthony Davis of Kentucky was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

• September 13 – NCAA recruiting frenzy resumed when high school junior Jabari Parker held an open practice attended by representatives of 42 NCAA Division I schools, including Mike Krzyzewski, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, Bruce Weber, Billy Kennedy, Thad Matta, Bill Self, Oliver Purnell and Larry Krystkowiak.^[1][2][3][4]
• November 1 – The AP preseason All-American team was named. Ohio State's Jared Sullinger was the only unanimous pick. Joining Sullinger were North Carolina forward Harrison Barnes (63 of 65 possible votes), Wisconsin guard Jordan Taylor (51), Kentucky forward Terrence Jones (33) and Connecticut guard Jeremy Lamb (25).^[5]
• After Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl was fired following the 2010–11 season for major recruiting violations, he took a job as vice president of marketing with a Knoxville-based wholesale grocery company, H.T. Hackney.^[6] He had been offered an opportunity to coach the NBA Development League's Texas Legends but declined because he wanted to stay in the Knoxville area with his family.^[6]
• November 11 – the game between Michigan State and #1 North Carolina, known as the inaugural Carrier Classic, was played on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson off the coast of Coronado, California on Veterans Day.^[7] It was the first ever college basketball game played on a Navy aircraft carrier.^[7] President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama attended the game as North Carolina won 67–55.^[7]
• November 17 – Syracuse associate head coach Bernie Fine was placed on paid administrative leave after accusations by multiple former ball boys claimed that he sexually molested them a number of times spanning more than 10 years.^[8] The story about Fine broke less than two weeks after the Penn State sex abuse scandal came to light.^[8] Fine was subsequently fired on November 27, ending his streak as Division I's longest-tenured assistant coach at one school.^[9]
• December 5 – Harvard became ranked in the AP Poll for the first time in school history, coming in at No. 25 after an 8–0 start.^[10][11][12] It leaves Brown as the only remaining Ivy League school to have never been ranked in the poll and leaves only seven schools that have played Division I basketball since the AP Poll began that have never been ranked in it.^[10]
• December 5 – Mike Krzyzewski and Tennessee Lady Volunteers coach Pat Summitt were named the co-recipients of the annual Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year award, making them the third and fourth college basketball coaches selected in its 57-year history.^[13]
• December 28 – After beating (15 AP/14 Coaches) Mississippi State,^[14] the Baylor Bears had their program's first ever 13–0 start and a school-record tying 13-game winning streak.^[15] The Bears' record reached 17–0 before finally losing to No. 7 Kansas, 92–74, on January 16.^[16] At the time of their first loss they were ranked No. 3 in the nation, another all-time program high.^[16]
• December 31 – No. 13 Indiana defeats No. 2 Ohio State, becoming the first Hoosiers men's basketball team to defeat both the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the same season (they had also previously upset then-#1 Kentucky, 73–72).^[17]
• January 5 – A Sun Belt Conference game between Louisiana–Lafayette and Western Kentucky ends in controversy, as officials failed to notice that the Ragin' Cajuns had six men on the court when Elfrid Payton drove for the layup that gave them a 72–70 win on WKU's home court. The conference's coordinator of officials stated that the error was not correctable post-game, but indicated that suspensions of the three officials involved were possible.^[18]
• February 9 – Murray State, the last unbeaten team in Division I men's basketball and ranked No. 9 in the country, loses at home to Tennessee State 72–68.^[19]
• February 21 – Binghamton becomes the last team in Division I to win a game.^[20] They started 0–26 until a 57–53 upset win over Vermont.^[20]
• February 24 – Radford receives two years of probation, but no postseason ban, for providing impermissible benefits to recruits. Former head coach Brad Greenberg, who left after the 2010–11 season, is hit with a five-year show-cause penalty for leading an effort to mislead NCAA investigators.^[21]
• March 8 – Yahoo! Sports reports that the FBI is investigating suspended Auburn point guard Varez Ward for possible involvement in a point shaving scheme. A second Auburn player had been investigated, but was cleared.^[22]

The 2011–12 season saw the first wave of membership changes resulting from a major realignment of NCAA Division I conferences. The cycle began in 2010 with the Big Ten and the then-Pac-10 publicly announcing their intentions to expand. The fallout from these conferences' moves later affected a majority of D-I conferences.

• Bowling Green, which had played since 1960 at the on-campus Anderson Arena, opened the Stroh Center, also on campus. In the first regular-season game in the new arena, the Falcons defeated Howard 63–48 on November 11.^[53]
• Evansville moved from Roberts Municipal Stadium, their home since 1956, to the new Ford Center in downtown Evansville. The Purple Aces also won their first regular-season game in the new building, defeating Butler 80–77 in overtime on November 12.^[54] (Incidentally, this was Butler's second consecutive season as the first regular-season opponent in a new facility; the 2010–11 team christened Louisville's new KFC Yum! Center.)
• Omaha made its Division I debut in the new Ralston Arena, an off-campus venue in Ralston, a suburb of Omaha. The team's former on-campus home, Lee & Helene Sapp Fieldhouse, remained in use by the Omaha women's team. (Both teams would move in 2015 to the on-campus Baxter Arena.)
• UNC Asheville, like Bowling Green, moved from one on-campus facility to another, leaving behind their home since 1963, the Justice Center, for the new Kimmel Arena. The Bulldogs brought in top-ranked North Carolina for the arena's regular-season opening on November 13. The Tar Heels, playing in head coach Roy Williams' hometown, won 91–75.^[55] (UNC Asheville was also christening a new arena for the second consecutive season; the 2010–11 team defeated Auburn in the first regular-season game at the Tigers' new Auburn Arena.)
• UT Arlington moved in midseason. The Mavericks started the season at Texas Hall, which opened in 1965 when the team was known as the Arlington State Rebels. On February 1, the Mavericks opened College Park Center, located on the opposite side of their campus, defeating UTSA 67–66.^[56]

Beginning in 2011–12, the following rules change was implemented:

• The charge circle was instituted – a semi-circle in front of the basket. Secondary defenders must be outside of this circle to effectively draw a charge. Otherwise they will be assessed an automatic blocking foul.^[57]

A number of early-season tournaments marked the beginning of the college basketball season.