1 seed in the Big East tournament, and a bye into the quarterfinals, along with 2nd-seed Marquette, 3rd-seed Notre Dame, and 4th-seed Cincinnati.
Play began at noon on Tuesday, March 6 in Madison Square Garden, when 9th-seed Connecticut defeated 16th-seed DePaul, 81–67.
[5] Play ended on Saturday, March 10, when Louisville defeated Cincinnati, 50–44, for their second Big East Championship.
[6] The Big East led all conferences in having nine teams selected to the 2012 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.
[21] On January 17, the Wooden Award midseason watchlist was released, and included four Big East players.
In addition, seven Big East players who were on the preseason list did not appear at midseason: Tim Abromaitis, Andre Drummond, Ashton Gibbs, Scoop Jardine, Alex Oriakhi, Peyton Siva, and Maalik Wayns.
[29] On February 29, the Naismith Top 30 was announced, and included newcomer Syracuse guard Dion Waiters.
The regular season team, individual, and attendance figures include all conference and non-conference games played from November 7, 2011 through March 3, 2012.
He also ranked second in the Big East in steals (2.4 per game) and recorded seven double-doubles for a Marquette squad that finished second in the conference.
[31][62] Other awardees included most improved player Jack Cooley, a junior forward from Notre Dame, who went from playing 10.3 minutes per game in 2010–11 to leading the conference in field goal percentage (.621) and finishing fourth in rebounds per game (9.2) in both conference and non-conference play in 2011–12.
[11] Meanwhile, St. John's placed two players on the All-Rookie Team, guard D'Angelo Harrison and forward Moe Harkless, who were the top two freshman scorers in the conference.
[68] On March 6, the Wooden Award final ballot was released, and included three Big East players.