1997 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament

The 1997 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Its winner received the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 1997 NCAA Tournament. It is a single-elimination tournament with four rounds and the three highest seeds received byes in the first round. All 13 Big East teams were invited to participate. Boston College and Villanova finished with the best record in the regular season. After tie-breakers, Villanova was awarded the top seed.

1997 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1996–97
Teams	13
Site	Madison Square Garden New York City
Champions	Boston College (1st title)
Winning coach	Jim O'Brien (1st title)
MVP	Scoonie Penn (Boston College)
Big East Men's Basketball Tournaments

1996–97 Big East men's basketball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Big East 6
No. 20 Villanova	12	–	6		.667			24	–	10		.706
No. 23 Boston College†	12	–	6		.667			22	–	9		.710
West Virginia	11	–	7		.611			21	–	10		.677
Notre Dame	8	–	10		.444			16	–	14		.533
St. John's	8	–	10		.444			13	–	15		.464
Connecticut	7	–	11		.389			18	–	15		.545
Big East 7
Georgetown	11	–	7		.611			20	–	10		.667
Providence	10	–	8		.556			24	–	12		.667
Pittsburgh	10	–	8		.556			18	–	15		.545
Miami	9	–	9		.500			16	–	13		.552
Syracuse	9	–	9		.500			19	–	13		.594
Seton Hall	5	–	13		.278			10	–	18		.357
Rutgers	5	–	13		.278			11	–	16		.407
† 1997 Big East Tournament winner As of March 31, 1997[1][2][3]; Rankings from AP Poll

Boston College defeated Villanova in the final, 70–58 to earn its first Big East Tournament championship. Future NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb participated in the tournament as a reserve forward for Syracuse.

Bracket

	First round					Second round					Semifinals					Championship Game
						1	#21 Villanova	80
						8	Syracuse	70
	8	Syracuse	84
	9	Notre Dame	66
											1	#21 Villanova	73
										4	Providence	63
	4	Providence	77
	13	Rutgers	56
						4	Providence	76
						5	West Virginia	69
	5	West Virginia	77
	12	Seton Hall	57
																1	#21 Villanova	58
																3	Boston College	70
						3	Boston College	76
						6	Pittsburgh	68
	6	Pittsburgh	63
	11	Connecticut	62
											3	Boston College	70
										2	Georgetown	58
						2	Georgetown	63
						7	Miami	59
	7	Miami	76^OT
	10	St. John's	68

Awards

Dave Gavitt Trophy (Most Outstanding Player): Scoonie Penn, Boston College

All-Tournament Team

• Danya Abrams, Boston College
• Victor Page, Georgetown
• Scoonie Penn, Boston College
• Tim Thomas, Villanova
• Alvin Williams, Villanova
• Duane Woodward, Boston College

References

General: "2008-09 Big East Media Guide" (PDF). pp. 136–138. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 28, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-03.

1. sports-reference.com 1996-97 Big East Conference Season Summary
2. Keefe, Gavin, "Big East Notes: The Big East 7 and Big East 6? Big Deal!", The Day, January 1, 1996, p. 7.
3. "PLUS: COLLEGE BASKETBALL -- BIG EAST CONFERENCE; League Cuts Games In Search of Bids," The New York Times, August 7, 1998.