Led by a fiercely determined guard with Energizer Bunny stamina, the UConn Huskies completed a stirring run to the 2011 NCAA championship with a 53-41 victory over Butler in the title game in Houston's Reliant Stadium. UConn's surge began in the Big East Tournament, when junior guard Kemba Walker led them to an unprecedented five victories in five days. Walker's heroics continued in the NCAA tourney. He scored 33 points in a second-round win over Cincinnati, then 36 more to lead the Huskies past upstart San Diego State in the Sweet 16. The championship game was no thing of beauty, but that didn't detract from what Walker and the Huskies accomplished to get there.

With his ridiculous shooting range and innate scoring ability, BYU guard Jimmer Fredette emerged as one of the biggest attractions of the 2010-11 college hoops season. "Jimmermania" swept through the West, then quickly went national. Fredette, the nation's leading scorer at 28.5 points per game, led the Cougars to the NCAA Sweet 16, scoring 34 points in a regional final victory over Gonzaga. The Cougars would lose to Florida in the next round, but the legend of Jimmer would live on.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski passed his mentor, Bobby Knight, to become the winningest coach in NCAA Div. I history on Nov. 15 in Madison Square Garden. Krzyzewski recorded his 903rd career victory with Duke's 74-69 win over Michigan State.

Not many experts gave Virginia Commonwealth and head coach Shaka Smart much of a chance in the NCAA tournament. In fact, it was considered a toss-up as to whether the Rams could beat USC in a "First Four" game to even make the field of 64. But upset wins over Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and — most significantly — Kansas put VCU into the Final Four for the first time in school history. The Rams fell to fellow mid-major Butler in the national semifinal, but Smart had made his mark.

A college basketball game played aboard an aircraft carrier? Well, why not? Michigan State and North Carolina helped kick off the 2010-11 season in grand style on Nov. 11 when they met on the deck of the USS Carl Vinson in Coronado, Calif. President Barack Obama sat courtside and watched coach Roy Williams and the No. 1 Tar Heels beat Tom Izzo and his Spartans, 67-55.