Andrew Pace
The Big East men's basketball tournament is an annual tournament held by the Big East Conference. The tournament is the longest-running conference tournament at any one site in all of college basketball. In 2024, UConn won the championship for the eighth time, tying with Georgetown for the most titles. The 2025 tournament was won by St. John's, their first Big East title since 1985.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year | 2025 |
| Winner | St. John's |
| Coach | Rick Pitino |
| Score | 82-77 |
| Runner-up | UConn |
| Location | Madison Square Garden |
| Previous year's winner | UConn |
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What You'll Learn
UConn's 2024 championship win
The 2024 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament was held between March 13 and March 16, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. All 11 Big East schools participated in the tournament, with the top five teams receiving first-round byes.
UConn, who had only resumed playing in the Big East Tournament in 2021 after moving to the new Big East Conference in 2020, emerged as the champions of the 2024 edition. Their victory granted them an automatic bid to the 2024 NCAA Tournament.
UConn's road to the championship was challenging but rewarding. They faced tough competition from rival teams, each with their own strengths and strategies. The games were intense and hard-fought, with each team displaying their skills and determination.
UConn's players showed exceptional talent, teamwork, and resilience throughout the tournament. Their offensive and defensive strategies were well-coordinated, and they executed their plays with precision and agility. Their coaching staff deserves credit for the team's excellent preparation and in-game adjustments, which contributed to their success.
The championship game was a thrilling contest that kept spectators on the edge of their seats. UConn's victory in the 2024 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament demonstrated their dedication, hard work, and unwavering spirit. Their triumph will be remembered as a testament to their perseverance and talent.
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The 2011 tournament
The 2011 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament was a dramatic affair, with a particularly eventful ending that had analysts and officials alike scratching their heads. The tournament was the 33rd season of competitive basketball played by the Big East Conference since its inception in 1979. It featured its 16 full-time member schools, with Notre Dame, St. John's, Pittsburgh, and Providence among them.
The 2011–12 season marked the Big East's final season as a 16-team basketball league, with the departure of West Virginia to the Big 12 Conference for the following season. The season was filled with coaching changes and controversies. Providence fired coach Keno Davis, despite five years remaining on his contract, and replaced him with Ed Cooley. Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun was also suspended for the first three games due to NCAA sanctions for recruiting violations.
On the court, Louisville head coach Rick Pitino recorded his 600th career win, while Syracuse fired associate head coach Bernie Fine after allegations of sexual abuse. Marquette senior forward Jae Crowder was named Player of the Year, finishing the regular season with impressive averages of 17.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
The tournament itself concluded with a thrilling finish that left analysts and officials scratching their heads. ESPN analyst Doris Burke called it "the bizarrest ending of a game I've ever seen," and Fran Fraschilla, another analyst, noted that the officiating "crew lost its composure." John Adams, the head of the NCAA's officiating, acknowledged the lack of officiating as "unacceptable," and Big East commissioner John Marinatto conceded that "two separate officiating errors" had occurred, but that they were not reviewable or correctable under NCAA rules.
Despite the controversial ending, the 2011 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament was a memorable and significant event in the history of the conference, showcasing the talent and passion of the teams and players involved.
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The 2009 tournament
The 2009 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament featured a notable expansion to include all 16 teams of the conference. This was a significant change from previous years, where only the top 12 teams participated. The tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, maintaining its longstanding tradition as the tournament's venue since 1983.
The tournament's format was adjusted to accommodate the increased number of teams. Specifically, the teams seeded #9 through #16 played in the first round, while teams seeded #5 through #8 received a bye to the second round. The top four teams during the regular season enjoyed a double-bye directly to the quarterfinals.
One of the most memorable games of the 2009 tournament was the quarterfinal matchup between the Connecticut Huskies and the Syracuse Orange. This game went into an extraordinary six overtimes, with Syracuse ultimately prevailing by a final score of 127-117. Syracuse's success continued, as they clinched the #1 seed in the Big East tournament by defeating #8 Villanova 95-77 and then securing the title outright with a win against St. John's, 85-66.
Despite Syracuse's impressive performance, it was West Virginia who emerged as the champions of the 2009 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament. In a thrilling final, West Virginia held off a last-minute rally by Georgetown to secure a 60-58 victory. Da'Sean Butler, the star player for the Mountaineers, was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player. His heroics included hitting the tournament-winning field goal and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in one of the tournament's dramatic games.
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The 1998 tournament
The 1998 Big East men's basketball tournament was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. All 13 Big East teams were invited to participate in the single-elimination tournament, which featured four rounds. The three highest seeds received byes in the first round.
Connecticut finished with the best record in the regular season and was awarded the top seed. They went on to defeat Syracuse 69-64 in the final, claiming their third Big East tournament championship. Khalid El-Amin of Connecticut was named the Most Outstanding Player and received the Dave Gavitt Trophy.
This tournament marked the last time the Big East utilised a divisional structure, as they returned to a unitary conference structure for the following year. The format adopted in 1995, where the #4 through #13 seeds played in the first round, was also scrapped after this tournament.
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The 1985 tournament
The 1985 Big East men's basketball tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from March 6 to March 9, 1985. The winner of the tournament received an automatic bid to the 1985 NCAA tournament. It followed a single-elimination format with four rounds. St. John's had the best regular-season conference record and received the #1 seed.
Georgetown emerged as the winner of the 1985 Big East men's tournament, defeating St. John's in the championship game with a score of 92-80. This was Georgetown's second straight Big East tournament championship title and its fourth overall.
The 1985 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, which followed the Big East tournament, was the first to feature a 64-team bracket, expanded from 53 teams in the previous year. The tournament began on March 14, 1985, and concluded with the championship game on April 1 in Lexington, Kentucky.
In the NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game, the Georgetown Hoyas, the defending national champions, faced the Villanova Wildcats, the eighth seed from the Southeast region. Both teams were from the Big East Conference, and this game marked their third meeting in the 1984–85 season. Villanova emerged as the winner, defeating Georgetown by a score of 66-64 to claim its first-ever national championship. This victory is often considered one of the biggest upsets in the history of the tournament.
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Frequently asked questions
UConn won the 2024 championship, tying with Georgetown for the most titles.
Rick Pitino of St. John's led his team to victory in the 2025 tournament.
Only three players have achieved multiple Most Valuable Player honors: Georgetown's Patrick Ewing (1984–1985), Louisville's Peyton Siva (2012–2013), and Villanova's Josh Hart (2015, 2017).
The 2009 tournament featured a six-overtime game in the quarterfinals between the Connecticut Huskies and the Syracuse Orange, with Syracuse prevailing 127-117. The game is the second-longest in NCAA history.
Madison Square Garden has a contract with the Big East Conference to host the tournament through 2028.
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