The 2010–11 NCAA Division I men's basketball season began on November 8, 2010, with the preliminary games of the 2010 Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, and ended with the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament's championship game on April 4, 2011, at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas. The tournament's first-round games occurred March 15–16, 2011, in Dayton, Ohio, followed by second and third rounds Thursday through Sunday, March 17–20. Regional games were played March 24–27, with the Final Four on April 2 and the national championship game on April 4.

Season headlines

Milestones and records

New arenas

Season outlook

Pre-season polls

The top 25 from the AP and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls, October 28, 2010.

Conference membership changes

These schools joined new conferences for the 2010–11 season.

Regular season

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

Early-season tournaments

*****Although these tournaments included more teams, only four played for the championship.

Conferences

Conference winners and tournaments

Thirty-one conference seasons concluded with a single-elimination tournament. The teams in each conference that won their regular-season titles were given the number one seed in their respective conference tournaments. Conference tournament winners received an automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament except for the winner of the Great West Conference tournament, although Great West Tournament champion North Dakota received an automatic bid to the 2011 CollegeInsider.com Tournament. The Ivy League was the only NCAA Division I conference that did not hold a conference tournament, instead sending its regular-season champion to the NCAA tournament.

Conference standings

Division I independents

Seven schools played as Division I independents. Antwan Carter of Longwood was named Independent Player of the Year.

Informal championships

Villanova finished with a 4–0 record in head-to-head competition among the Philadelphia Big 5.

Statistical leaders

Source for additional stats categories

Postseason tournaments

NCAA tournament

Final Four – Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas

Tournament upsets

A "major upset" is defined as a win by a team seeded seven or more spots below its defeated opponent.

National Invitation tournament

After the NCAA Tournament field was announced, the National Invitation Tournament invited 32 teams to participate.

NIT Semifinals and Final

Played at Madison Square Garden in New York City

College Basketball Invitational

The fourth College Basketball Invitational (CBI) Tournament was held beginning March 15 and ended with a best-of-three final, ending April 1. Creighton hosted Game 1 of the Championship Series, while Oregon hosted Games 2 and 3. Oregon defeated Creighton, 2 games to 1.

CollegeInsider.com tournament

The third CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament was held beginning March 14 and ended with a championship game on March 30. This tournament places an emphasis on selecting successful teams from "mid-major" conferences who were left out of the NCAA Tournament and NIT. Santa Clara defeated Iona 76–69 in the final, and Santa Clara's Kevin Foster was tournament MVP.

Award winners

Consensus All-American teams

Major player of the year awards

Major freshman of the year awards

Major coach of the year awards

Other major awards

Coaching changes

A number of teams changed coaches during and after the season.