1980–81 Big East Conference men's basketball season

American college basketball season March 2025 1980–81 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season #072E67 #EFE3BB NCAA Division I Basketball Big East Conference primary logo 1979-1998.png 250px November 28, 1980through March 7, 1981 8 ESPN Regular Season Boston College (10–4) Champion John Bagley – Boston College Big East Men's Basketball Player of the Year Tournament 1981 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament Syracuse Leo Rautins – Syracuse Most Valuable Player Basketball 1979–80 1981–82 The 1980–81 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the second in conference history, and involved its eight full-time member schools. Boston College won the regular season championship with a 10–4 record. Syracuse was the champion of the Big East tournament. Season summary & highlights The Big East expanded for the first time, becoming an eight-team conference with the addition of Villanova as a member. For the first time, Big East members played each other twice during the regular season, and the conference season expanded from six games the previous season to 14 games. Boston College won the regular-season championship, with a record of 10–4. After finishing 6–8 during the regular season, Syracuse advanced from a No. 6 seed in the Big East tournament to win the tournament championship with a triple-overtime victory over Villanova. The Big East tournament took place at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse finished as the runner-up in the 1981 National Invitation Tournament. Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Tom Davis 4th Big East Coach of the Year Connecticut Dom Perno 4th Georgetown John Thompson, Jr. 9th Providence Gary Walters 2nd Resigned April 6, 1981 St. John's Lou Carnesecca 13th Seton Hall Bill Raftery 11th Resigned November 3, 1981 Syracuse Jim Boeheim 5th Villanova Rollie Massimino 8th Rankings Four Big East teams made appearances in the Top 20 of the Associated Press poll during the season. + 1980–81 Big East Conference Weekly RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. AP Pollhttps://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/conferences/big-east/men/1981.html 1980-81 Men's Big East Conference Season Summary March 25, 2025 sports-reference.com Pre 12/1 12/8 12/15 12/22 12/29 1/5 1/12 1/19 1/26 2/2 2/9 2/16 2/23 3/2 FinalBoston College Connecticut 20 20 Georgetown 16 19 Providence St. John's 17 16 Seton Hall Syracuse 19 18 20 Villanova Regular-season statistical leaders 18em start ScoringNameSchoolPPG John Bagley BC 20.4 Sleepy Floyd GU 19.0 Dan Callandrillo SHU 16.3 John Pinone Vill 15.8 Corny Thompson Conn 15.0 18em break ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Danny Schayes Syr 8.4 Corny Thompson Conn 8.1 David Russell SJU 7.8 John Pinone Vill 7.4 Wayne McKoy SJU 7.1 18em break AssistsNameSchoolAPG Eddie Moss Syr 5.4 Stewart Granger Vill 5.3 Karl Hobbs Conn 4.7 Jim Panaggio Prov 3.9 Ricky Tucker Prov 3.7 18em break StealsNameSchoolSPG Eddie Moss Syr 2.5 Sleepy Floyd GU 1.9 Erich Santifer Syr 1.9 Fred Brown GU 1.9 Stewart Granger Vill 1.8 18em break BlocksNameSchoolBPG Danny Schayes Syr 2.2 Rich Hunger Prov 1.6 Howard McNeil SHU 1.6 Burnett Adams BC 1.6 Wayne McKoy SJU 1.2 18em break Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Chuck Aleksinas Conn .631 John Pinone Vill .554 Marty Headd Syr .549 Erich Santifer Syr .530 David Russell SJU .518 18em break Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Martin Clark BC .832 Danny Schayes Syr .822 Sleepy Floyd GU .806 Larry Washington SJU .795 Corny Thompson Conn .792 end Postseason Big East tournament 1981 Big East men's basketball tournament Seeding For the first time, all conference members participated in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, with no team receiving a bye into the semifinals. Seeding was based on conference record, with tiebreakers applied as necessary. The tournament's seeding was as follows: (1) Boston College, (2) Georgetown, (3) St. John's, (4) Villanova, (5) Connecticut, (6) Syracuse, (7) Seton Hall, (8) Providence. Bracket Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship Game 1 Boston College 65 8 1980-81 Providence Friars Providence College Providence 67 4 Villanova 65 5 Connecticut 54 2 Georgetown 58 7 1980-81 Seton Hall Pirates Seton Hall University Seton Hall 52 3 St. John's 66 6 1980-81 Syracuse Orangemen Syracuse University Syracuse 71 8 Providence 49 4 Villanova 58OT 2 Georgetown 53 6 Syracuse 67 4 Villanova 80 6 Syracuse 833OT NCAA tournament 1981 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Three Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. Georgetown lost in the first round in the East Region, Villanova lost in the East Region quarterfinals, and Boston College lost in the Mideast Region semifinals. School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Boston College Mideast 5 12 Ball State, W 93–90 4 Wake Forest, W 67–64 9 Saint Joseph's, L 42–41 Villanova East 9 8 Houston, W 90–72 1 Virginia, L 54–50 Georgetown East 7 10 James Madison, L 61–55 National Invitation Tournament 1981 National Invitation Tournament Three Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. They played in three different unnamed brackets. St. John's lost in the first round and Connecticut in the second round, but Syracuse advanced to the final and finished as the tournament runner-up. School Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Syracuse Marquette, W 88–81 Holy Cross, W 77–57 Michigan, W 91–76 Purdue, W 70–63 Tulsa, L 86–84 Connecticut South Florida, W 65–55 Minnesota, L 84–66 St. John's Alabama, L 73–69 Awards and honors Big East Conference Player of the Year: John Bagley, Boston College, G, So. Freshman of the Year: Fred Brown, Georgetown, G Coach of the Year: Tom Davis, Boston College (4th season) All-Big East First Team: John Bagley, Boston College, G, So., 6 ft 0 in cm 0, 225 lb 0, Bridgeport, Conn. Corny Thompson, Connecticut, F, Jr., 6 ft 8 in cm 0, 225 lb 0, Middletown, Conn. Sleepy Floyd, Georgetown, G, So., 6 ft 3 in cm 0, 172 lb 0, Gastonia, N.C. Danny Schayes, Syracuse, F, Sr., 6 ft 11 in cm 0, 235 lb 0, Syracuse, N.Y. John Pinone, Villanova, F, So., 6 ft 8 in cm 0, 230 lb 0, Hartford, Conn. All-Big East First Team Chuck Aleksinas, Connecticut, C, Jr., 6 ft 8 in cm 0, 225 lb 0, Litchfield, Conn. Eric Smith, Georgetown, F, Jr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 185 lb 0, Potomac, Md. Dan Callandrillo, Seton Hall, G, Jr., 6 ft 2 in cm 0, 185 lb 0, North Bergen, N.J. David Russell, St. John's, F, So., 6 ft 7 in cm 0, 215 lb 0, New York, N.Y. Marty Headd, Syracuse, G, Sr., 6 ft 2 in cm 0, 180 lb 0, Syracuse, N.Y. All-Big East Third Team: Dwan Chandler, Boston College, G, Jr., 6 ft 1 in cm 0, 185 lb 0, Boston, Mass. Mike McKay, Connecticut, G, Jr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 190 lb 0, Bridgeport, Conn. Howard McNeil, Seton Hall, C, Jr., 6 ft 9 in cm 0, 225 lb 0, Glassboro, N.J. Frank Gilroy, St. John's, F, Sr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 205 lb 0, Flushing, N.Y. Wayne McKoy, St. John's, C, Sr., 6 ft 9 in cm 0, 235 lb 0, Elizabethtown, N.C. Stewart Granger, Villanova, G, So., 6 ft 3 in cm 0, 190 lb 0, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Big East All-Freshman Team: Jay Murphy, Boston College, F, Fr., 6 ft 9 in cm 0, 220 lb 0, Meriden, Conn. Martin Clark, Boston College, F, Fr., 6 ft 9 in cm 0, Folkestone, United Kingdom Vernon Giscombe, Connecticut, G, Fr., 5 ft 11 in cm 0, 165 lb 0, The Bronx, N.Y. Fred Brown, Georgetown, G, Fr., 6 ft 5 in cm 0, 190 lb 0, The Bronx, N.Y. Otis Thorpe, Providence, F, Fr., 6 ft 9 in cm 0, 225 lb 0, Boynton Beach, Fla. Sir John Collins, Seton Hall, F, Fr., 6 ft 7 in cm 0 All-Americans The following players were selected to the 1981 Associated Press All-America teams. 1981 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans Second Team All-America: Sleepy Floyd, Georgetown, Key Stats: 19.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.6 apg, 46.7 FG%, 607 points AP Honorable Mention John Bagley, Boston College John Pinone, Villanova David Russell, St. John's Danny Schayes, Syracuse Corny Thompson, Connecticut See also 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 1980–81 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team 1980–81 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 1980–81 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 1980–81 St. John's Redmen basketball team 1980–81 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team 1980–81 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team References