Big East men's basketball tournament

Big East men's basketball tournament
Big East men's basketball tournament
Conference basketball championship
	The 2008 Big East men's basketball tournament trophy
Sport	College basketball
Conference	Big East Conference
Number of teams	11
Format	Single-elimination tournament
Current stadium	Madison Square Garden
Current location	New York City
Played	1980–present
Last contest	2024
Current champion	Connecticut Huskies
Most championships	Connecticut Huskies, Georgetown Hoyas (8)
Official website	BigEast.org
Host stadiums
	Providence Civic Center (1980); Carrier Dome (1981); Hartford Civic Center (1982); Madison Square Garden (1983–present)
Host locations
	Providence, Rhode Island (1980); Syracuse, New York (1981); Hartford, Connecticut (1982); New York City (1983–present)

The Big East men's basketball tournament is the championship tournament of the Big East Conference in men's basketball. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

As part of the 2013 deal in which seven schools left the original Big East Conference of 1979–2013 to form a new Big East Conference and the original conference became the American Athletic Conference, the new Big East retained the rights to the conference tournament.

Venue

Since 1983, the tournament has been held in Madison Square Garden, New York City. As such, the tournament is the longest-running conference tournament at any one site in all of college basketball. Madison Square Garden has a contract with the Big East Conference to host the tournament through 2028.^[1]

Notable events

The 2009 tournament featured a six-overtime game in the quarterfinals between the Connecticut Huskies and the Syracuse Orange, in which Syracuse prevailed, 127–117. The game, the second-longest in NCAA history, started on the evening of March 12 and ended nearly four hours later in the early morning of March 13.^[2]

In 2011, Connecticut, led by Kemba Walker, became the first and only team in the Big East tournament ever to win five games in five consecutive days to win the championship.

On March 12, 2020, the 2020 tournament was cancelled during halftime of a first-round game due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[3] The conference received an insurance payout of $10.5 million as a result of the tournament's cancellation.^[4]

In 2021, Georgetown won four games in four days as an underdog in each contest, to win its record eighth title. Patrick Ewing became the first person to win the championship as both a player and a head coach.

Only three players have achieved repeat Most Valuable Player honors: Georgetown's Patrick Ewing (1984–1985), Louisville's Peyton Siva (2012–2013), and Villanova's Josh Hart (2015, 2017).

Seeding

From 1980 through 2000, all Big East member schools qualified for the Big East tournament. The Big East limited participation to 12 schools from 2001 to 2008, but since 2009, all member schools again have qualified for the tournament. The conference has based tournament seeding strictly on conference record and tiebreakers except between 1996 and 1998 and between 2001 and 2003; during those years, the conference used a divisional structure which also affected seeding.

1980–1995

In 1980, with seven member schools, the #2 through #7 seeds played in an opening quarterfinal round and the #1 seed received a bye until the semifinal round. In 1981, the conference expanded to eight teams, and in 1981 and 1982, all eight teams began play in a quarterfinal round. After the conference expanded again, to nine teams, the #8 and #9 seeds played in a single first-round game and schools seeded #7 or higher received a bye into the quarterfinal round; adopted in 1983, this format persisted through the 1991 tournament. After the Big East expanded to 10 teams, the 1992 tournament had two first-round games for the #7 through #10 seeds, teams seeded #6 or higher getting a bye into the quarterfinal round. This format continued through the 1995 tournament.

1996–2000

For the 1995–96 Big East Conference men's basketball season, the Big East expanded to 13 teams and adopted a divisional structure, with teams divided between the Big East 6 Division and the Big East 7 Division. The expansion resulted in a new tournament format in which the #4 through #13 seeds played in the first round and only the #1 through #3 seeds received byes into the quarterfinals. This format lasted through the 2000 tournament.

During the existence of the Big East 6 and Big East 7 divisions, seeding criteria also changed, with the winners of each division receiving the #1 and #2 seeds regardless of record, the second-place team with the best record receiving the #3 seed, and the rest of the schools receiving the #4 through #13 seeds based on conference record and tiebreakers. After 1998, the Big East scrapped the divisions and returned to a unitary conference structure, and tournament seeding again was based strictly on conference record and tiebreakers in 1999 and 2000.

2001–2008

From 2001 through 2008, Big East membership varied between 13 and 16 schools, but the conference limited tournament participation to 12 schools.

From 2001 through 2003, when the Big East again was divided into two divisions — an East and a West Division, each of seven teams — teams were seeded #1 through #6 by division. The third- through sixth-place finishers in each division (a total of eight teams) received the #3 through #6 seeds in each division and played in the first round, with the #3 East seed playing the #6 West seed, the #4 East seed playing the #5 West seed, the #5 East seed playing the #4 West seed, and the #6 East seed playing the #3 West seed. The first- and second-place finishers in each division (a total of four teams) received the #1 and #2 divisional seeds and a bye into the quarterfinal round. Two teams — the seventh-place finishers in each division, after the application of any necessary tiebreaking criteria — did not qualify for the tournament.

From 2004 to 2008, after the Big East again eliminated its division structure, schools again were seeded based on conference record and tiebreakers. The #5 through #12 seeds played in the first round, and the #1 through #4 seeds received byes into the quarterfinal round. The Big East's membership varied between 13 and 16 schools during these years, but only the teams which finished 12th or higher in the conference after the application as necessary of tiebreaking criteria qualified for the tournament.^[1]

2009–2013

In 2009, the conference returned to a tournament format that included all member schools (16 from 2009 to 2012, and 14 in 2013). The teams seeded #9 through #16 played first-round games, teams seeded #5 through #8 received a bye to the second round, and the top four teams received a double-bye to the quarterfinals.^[5] The final Big East tournament held by the original Big East Conference, which took place in 2013, saw only 14 teams compete—West Virginia had left the Big East for the Big 12 Conference after the 2011–12 season, and Connecticut was barred from the tournament due to an NCAA postseason ban for academic reasons. In that tournament, the teams seeded #11 through #14 played in the first round, with byes remaining the same as in the 2010–2012 period.

Throughout the 2009–2013 period, all member schools participating in the tournament were seeded in the tournament based on their conference records. Non-conference games were ignored. Ties were broken using an elaborate set of tiebreaker rules, with the first two tiebreakers being head-to-head record and common record against the next-best conference team.^[6]

2014–present

During the offseason in 2013, seven schools left the original Big East Conference of 1979–2013 and joined three other schools in forming a new Big East Conference, the old conference becoming the American Athletic Conference. The new Big East Conference took over control of the Big East tournament. From 2014 — the first tournament held after the formation of the new Big East — through 2019 all 10 member schools took part in the tournament, with tiebreakers similar to those used prior to the formation of the new conference employed as needed. The #7 through #10 seeds played in two first-round games, and all schools seeded #6 or higher received a bye into the quarterfinal round. The 2020 tournament would have followed the same format if it had not been canceled after the first round.

In 2021, after the Big East expanded to 11 teams with Connecticut's move to the Big East from the American Athletic Conference, the Big East tournament adopted an 11-team format in which the #6 through #11 seeds play in three first-round games and teams seeded #5 or higher receive a bye into the quarterfinal round.

Tournament results

Year	Champion	Score	Runner-up	MVP	Venue
1980	Georgetown	87–81	Syracuse	Craig Shelton, GU	Providence Civic Center (Providence, Rhode Island)
1981	Syracuse	83–80	Villanova	Leo Rautins, SU	Carrier Dome (Syracuse, New York)
1982	Georgetown	72–54	Villanova	Eric Floyd, GU	Hartford Civic Center (Hartford, Connecticut)
1983	St. John's	85–77	Boston College	Chris Mullin, St. John's	Madison Square Garden (New York City)
1984	Georgetown	82–71	Syracuse	Patrick Ewing, GU
1985	Georgetown	92–80	St. John's	Patrick Ewing, GU
1986	St. John's	70–69	Syracuse	Dwayne Washington, SU
1987	Georgetown	69–59	Syracuse	Reggie Williams, GU
1988	Syracuse	85–68	Villanova	Sherman Douglas, SU
1989	Georgetown	88–79	Syracuse	Charles Smith, GU
1990	Connecticut	78–75	Syracuse	Chris Smith, UConn
1991	Seton Hall	74–62	Georgetown	Oliver Taylor, SH
1992	Syracuse	56–54	Georgetown	Alonzo Mourning, GU
1993	Seton Hall	103–70	Syracuse	Terry Dehere, SH
1994	Providence	74–64	Georgetown	Michael Smith, PC
1995	Villanova	94–78	Connecticut	Kerry Kittles, VU
1996	Connecticut	75–74	Georgetown	Victor Page, GU
1997	Boston College	70–58	Villanova	Scoonie Penn, BC
1998	Connecticut	69–64	Syracuse	Khalid El-Amin, UConn
1999	Connecticut	82–63	St. John's	Kevin Freeman, UConn
2000	St. John's	80–70	Connecticut	Bootsy Thornton, SJU
2001	Boston College	79–57	Pittsburgh	Troy Bell, BC
2002	Connecticut	74–65*	Pittsburgh	Caron Butler, UConn
2003	Pittsburgh	74–56	Connecticut	Julius Page, Pitt
2004	Connecticut	61–58	Pittsburgh	Ben Gordon, UConn
2005	Syracuse	68–59	West Virginia	Hakim Warrick, SU
2006	Syracuse	65–61	Pittsburgh	Gerry McNamara, SU
2007	Georgetown	65–42	Pittsburgh	Jeff Green, GU
2008	Pittsburgh	74–65	Georgetown	Sam Young, Pitt
2009	Louisville	76–66	Syracuse	Jonny Flynn, SU
2010	West Virginia	60–58	Georgetown	Da'Sean Butler, West Virginia
2011	Connecticut	69–66	Louisville	Kemba Walker, UConn
2012	Louisville	50–44	Cincinnati	Peyton Siva, Louisville
2013	Louisville	78–61	Syracuse	Peyton Siva, Louisville
2014	Providence	65–58	Creighton	Bryce Cotton, Providence
2015	Villanova	69–52	Xavier	Josh Hart, Villanova
2016	Seton Hall	69–67	Villanova	Isaiah Whitehead, SH
2017	Villanova	74–60	Creighton	Josh Hart, Villanova
2018	Villanova	76–66*	Providence	Mikal Bridges, Villanova
2019	Villanova	74–72	Seton Hall	Phil Booth, Villanova
2020	Canceled after first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Georgetown	73–48	Creighton	Dante Harris, GU
2022	Villanova	54–48	Creighton	Collin Gillespie, Villanova
2023	Marquette	65–51	Xavier	Tyler Kolek, Marquette
2024	Connecticut	73–57	Marquette	Tristen Newton, UConn

Championships by school

School	Championships	Title Years
Georgetown	8	1980, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 2007, 2021
UConn	8	1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, 2011, 2024
Villanova	6	1995, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022
Syracuse	5	1981, 1988, 1992, 2005, 2006
St. John's	3	1983, 1986, 2000
Louisville	3	2009, 2012, 2013
Seton Hall	3	1991, 1993, 2016
Boston College	2	1997, 2001
Pittsburgh	2	2003, 2008
Providence	2	1994, 2014
West Virginia	1	2010
Marquette	1	2023
Creighton	0
Xavier	0
Cincinnati	0

Italics indicate school is no longer a member of the Big East Conference.

Current members Butler and DePaul have yet to make an appearance in the Big East Championship Game. Former members Miami, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech, Rutgers, and South Florida did not appear in the championship during their respective conference tenures.

Performance by team

1980–2005 conference alignment

Teams (# of titles)		1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
BE (42)		(7)	(8)	(8)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(9)	(10)	(10)	(10)	(10)	(13)	(13)	(13)	(13)	(13)	(12)	(12)	(12)	(12)	(11)
1	Georgetown (8)	C	SF	C	QF	C	C	SF	C	QF	C	SF	F	F	QF	F	SF	F	SF	QF	QF	SF	QF	QF	QF	1R	QF
1	UConn (8)	SF	QF	QF	QF	QF	QF	1R	1R	QF	QF	C	QF	QF	QF	SF	F	C	1R	C	C	F	1R	C	F	C	SF
3	Villanova (6)	•	F	F	SF	SF	SF	SF	QF	F	QF	SF	SF	QF	1R	QF	C	SF	F	QF	QF	QF	QF	QF	1R	SF	SF
4	Syracuse (5)	F	C	QF	SF	F	SF	F	F	C	F	F	QF	C	F	QF	QF	SF	QF	F	SF	QF	SF	1R	SF	QF	C
5	St. John's (3)	SF	QF	SF	C	SF	F	C	QF	QF	1R	QF	QF	SF	SF	QF	1R	1R	1R	SF	F	C	1R	QF	QF	DNQ	DNQ
5	Seton Hall (3)	QF	QF	QF	QF	1R	1R	QF	QF	SF	SF	QF	C	SF	C	SF	1R	QF	1R	1R	QF	QF	SF	1R	QF	1R	1R
7	Boston College (2)	QF	QF	SF	F	QF	QF	QF	QF	QF	QF	1R	1R	QF	QF	QF	QF	QF	C	QF	1R	1R	C	QF	SF	SF	QF
7	Pittsburgh (2)	•	•	•	QF	QF	QF	QF	SF	SF	SF	QF	QF	1R	QF	1R	QF	1R	QF	1R	1R	1R	F	F	C	F	QF
7	Providence (2)	QF	SF	QF	1R	QF	QF	QF	SF	1R	QF	QF	SF	1R	SF	C	SF	QF	SF	QF	1R	1R	QF	1R	QF	QF	1R
10	West Virginia (1)	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1R	QF	1R	1R	1R	1R	DNQ	1R	1R	F
11	Miami (0)	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	QF	1R	1R	QF	QF	QF	1R	SF	SF	1R	SF	1R	DNQ	•
11	Notre Dame (0)	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1R	1R	1R	1R	QF	QF	SF	1R	QF	1R
11	Rutgers (0)	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	1R	1R	SF	QF	1R	DNQ	1R	DNQ	1R	QF
11	Virginia Tech (0)	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	QF	•

NOTE: From 2001 through 2003, the teams which finished in last place in the East and West Divisions did not qualify for the tournament. In 2004 and 2005, teams which finished below 12th place in the conference did not qualify for the tournament.

2006–2013 conference alignment

Teams (# of titles)		2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
BE (42)		(12)	(12)	(12)	(16)	(16)	(16)	(16)	(14)
1	Georgetown (8)	SF	C	F	1R	F	2R	QF	SF
1	UConn (8)	QF	1R	QF	QF	1R	C	QF	DNQ
3	Villanova (6)	SF	QF	QF	SF	QF	1R	2R	QF
4	Syracuse (5)	C	QF	1R	F	QF	SF	SF	F
5	Louisville (3)	1R	SF	QF	C	2R	F	C	C
5	St. John's (3)	DNQ	1R	DNQ	2R	2R	QF	1R	2R
5	Seton Hall (3)	1R	DNQ	1R	2R	2R	1R	2R	2R
8	Pittsburgh (2)	F	F	C	QF	QF	QF	2R	QF
8	Providence (2)	DNQ	1R	1R	QF	1R	1R	1R	2R
10	West Virginia (1)	QF	QF	SF	SF	C	2R	2R	•
11	Cincinnati (0)	1R	DNQ	1R	1R	QF	QF	F	QF
12	Notre Dame (0)	1R	SF	QF	2R	SF	SF	SF	SF
12	Marquette (0)	QF	QF	SF	QF	SF	QF	QF	QF
12	Rutgers (0)	QF	DNQ	DNQ	1R	1R	2R	1R	2R
12	South Florida (0)	DNQ	DNQ	DNQ	1R	2R	2R	QF	1R
12	DePaul (0)	DNQ	1R	DNQ	2R	1R	1R	1R	1R

NOTE: From 2006 through 2008, teams which finished below 12th place in the conference did not qualify for the tournament. In 2013, Connecticut did not qualify for the tournament because of Academic Progress Rate violations

Since 2014 realignment

through 2024 tournament

Teams (# of titles)		2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024
BE (43)		(10)	(10)	(10)	(10)	(10)	(10)	(10)	(11)	(11)	(11)	(11)
1	Georgetown (8)	1R	SF	QF	1R	1R	QF	1R	C	1R	1R	1R
1	UConn (8)	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	SF	SF	SF	C
3	Villanova (6)	QF	C	F	C	C	C	DNP	QF	C	QF	QF
4	St. John's (3)	QF	QF	1R	QF	QF	QF	QFC	QF	QF	QF	SF
4	Seton Hall (3)	SF	1R	C	SF	QF	F	DNP	SF	QF	1R	QF
6	Providence (2)	C	SF	SF	QF	F	QF	DNP	1R	SF	QF	SF
7	Marquette (1)	QF	QF	QF	QF	QF	SF	DNP	1R	QF	C	F
8	Creighton (0)	F	QF	QF	F	QF	QF	DNP	F	F	SF	QF
8	Xavier (0)	SF	F	SF	SF	SF	SF	1R	1R	1R	F	QF
8	Butler (0)	1R	QF	QF	QF	SF	1R	DNP	QF	QF	1R	1R
8	DePaul (0)	QF	1R	1R	1R	1R	1R	QFC	QF	1R	QF	1R

NOTE: The 2020 tournament was canceled during halftime of the first quarterfinal game due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Georgetown and Xavier lost their first-round games; Creighton and St. John's did not complete their quarterfinal game, and none of the other teams played their quarterfinal games.

Key

C	Champion
F	Lost in Final
SF	Lost in Semifinals
QF	Lost in Quarterfinals
2R	Lost in Second Round
1R	Lost in First Round
QFC	Won first round; quarterfinal cancelled
DNP	Did not play (bye in first round; quarterfinal cancelled)
DNQ	Did not qualify for tournament
•	Not a conference member

Television coverage

Before the 2013 conference split, the Big East was the only conference to have every tournament game broadcast nationwide on the ESPN family of networks, with every game from the second round forward broadcast on ESPN. 2011 marked the first year the tournament was broadcast in 3D on ESPN 3D.

Beginning with the 2014 tournament, FS1 is the television home for the Big East tournament.^[7]

References

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

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