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 #1 seed in the tournament. The #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 #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

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.

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