1980 Big East men's basketball tournament

1980 Big East men's basketball tournament
1980 Big East men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1979–80
Teams	7
Site	Providence Civic Center; Providence, Rhode Island
Champions	Georgetown (1st title)
Winning coach	John Thompson (1st title)
MVP	Craig Shelton (Georgetown)
	Big East men's basketball tournaments 1981 →

1979–80 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 6 Syracuse	5	–	1	.833	26	–	4	.867
No. 13 St. John's	5	–	1	.833	24	–	5	.828
No. 11 Georgetown†	5	–	1	.833	26	–	6	.813
Connecticut	3	–	3	.500	20	–	9	.690
Boston College	2	–	4	.333	19	–	10	.655
Seton Hall	1	–	5	.167	14	–	13	.519
Providence	0	–	6	.000	11	–	16	.407

† 1980 Big East tournament winner Rankings from AP poll^[1]

The inaugural Big East men's basketball tournament took place at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island, in March 1980. It is a single-elimination tournament with three rounds.

Georgetown, St. John's and Syracuse finished tied for the regular-season championship at 5–1. In head-to-head matchups, Georgetown defeated Syracuse, Syracuse defeated St. John's, and St. John's defeated Georgetown, giving each team a 1–1 head-to-head record. The conference conducted a coin flip to determine to no. 1 seed in the tournament. The no. 2 seed would be determined by the head-to-head result.^[2] Syracuse won the coin flip and was seeded first, receiving a bye into the semifinals; St. John's received the no. 2 seed by virtue of its victory over Georgetown.^[3]

Georgetown defeated Syracuse in the championship game 87–81.

Bracket

Quarterfinals			Semifinals			Championship Game

			1	#3 Syracuse	92

			4	Connecticut	61
4	Connecticut	79

5	Boston College	68
						1	#3 Syracuse	81

						3	#20 Georgetown	87
2	#8 St. John's	48

7	Providence	44
			2	#8 St. John's	66

			3	#20 Georgetown	76
3	#20 Georgetown	60

6	Seton Hall	47

Awards

Most Valuable Player: Craig Shelton, Georgetown

All Tournament Team

John Duren, Georgetown
Eric Floyd, Georgetown
Marty Headd, Syracuse
Louis Orr, Syracuse
David Russell, St. John's

References

^ sports-reference.com 1979-80 Big East Conference Season Summary
^ Burton, Rick (February 14, 1980). "Big East Meetings Over". Syracuse Post-Standard. p. B-4. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
^ Burton, Rick (February 25, 1980). "Are Orangemen Special?". Syracuse Post-Standard. p. B-3. Retrieved August 9, 2024.

2008-09 Big East Media Guide (PDF). pp. 136–138. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 4, 2009.

[1] sports-reference.com 1979-80 Big East Conference Season Summary

[2] Burton, Rick (February 14, 1980). "Big East Meetings Over". Syracuse Post-Standard. p. B-4. Retrieved August 9, 2024.

[3] Burton, Rick (February 25, 1980). "Are Orangemen Special?". Syracuse Post-Standard. p. B-3. Retrieved August 9, 2024.

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