Big East Tournament

The 2010 Big East men's basketball tournament will be played March 9-13 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. For the second straight season, all 16 teams in the conference will participate in the tournament. The teams will be seeded one through 16 based on how they finished during the regular season. Prior to 2009, only the top 12 finishers qualified for the tournament. The expanded field has resulted in a change in the tournament's format. The top four seeds receive a double bye into the quarterfinals and the Nos. 5 through 8 teams earn a single bye into the second round.

The new format means 15 games will be played over a span of four games. The schedule for the first three days features doubleheaders starting at noon and 7 p.m. EST each day. The semifinals will be played on March 12 at 7 and 9 p.m. and the championship game tips off at 9 on March 13. All games after the opening round will be televised by ESPN and ESPN2. The bottom eight seeds (9 vs. 16, 10 vs. 15, 11 vs. 14 and 12 vs. 13 face each other in the first round.) The four winners advance to the second round. The winners of the four-round second-round contests move on to the quarterfinals. New York City has become the traditional home of the Big East tournament, as Madison Square Garden became the permanent site in 1983, four years after the Big East was formed. The winner of the tournament garners the Big East's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament, although several other league teams will receive "at-large" bids into "The Big Dance." http://www.bigeast.org/

West Virginia won its first Big East men's basketball title with a 60-58 victory over Georgetown in the title game on March 13. Da'Sean Butler scored in the lane with 4.2 seconds remaining to give the seventh-ranked Mountaineers the title. It was his second game-winner in three days. The senior guard banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give West Virginia a 54-51 quarterfinal win over Cincinnati. Third-seeded West Virginia was the only one of the top four seeds to escape the quarterfinals in a upset-filled tournament. Three higher seeds lost in the quarterfinals, including top two seeds Syracuse and Villanova. Georgetown was seekings its record eighth Big East champion ship. In the semifinals, West Virginia survived another close game, holding off Notre Dame, 53-51. Georgetown reached the final with a 80-57 drubbing of Marquette. Butler was named the tournament's MVP.

• 2010: West Virginia Mountaineers Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 2009: Louisville Cardinals Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 2008: Pitssburgh Panthers Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 2007: Georgetown Hoyas Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 2006: Syracuse Orange Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 2005: Syracuse Orange Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 2004: UConn Huskies Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 2003: Pitssburgh Panthers Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 2002: UConn Huskies Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 2001: Boston College Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 2000: St. John's Red Storm Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 1999: UConn Huskies Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 1998: UConn Huskies Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 1997: Boston College Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 1996: UConn Huskies Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 1995: Villanova Wildcats Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 1994: Providence Friars Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 1993: Seton Hall Pirates Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 1992: Syracuse Orange Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 1991: Seton Hall Pirates Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 1990: UConn Huskies Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions
• 1989: Georgetown Hoyas Rauzulu's Street: Big East Conference Champions