1997 Big East men's basketball tournament

August 2023 March 2026 1997 Big East Men's 13 Madison Square Garden New York City Boston College 1st Jim O'Brien 1st Scoonie Penn Boston College 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. 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 8 1996-97 Syracuse Orangemen Syracuse University Syracuse 84 9 1996-97 Notre Dame Fighting Irish University of Notre Dame Notre Dame 66 4 Providence 77 13 1996-97 Rutgers Scarlet Knights Rutgers University Rutgers 56 5 1996-97 West Virginia Mountaineers West Virginia University West Virginia 77 12 1996-97 Seton Hall Pirates Seton Hall University Seton Hall 57 6 Pittsburgh 63 11 Connecticut 62 7 Miami 76OT 10 St. John's 68 1 #21 Villanova 80 8 Syracuse 70 4 Providence 76 5 West Virginia 69 3 Boston College 76 6 Pittsburgh 68 2 Georgetown 63 7 Miami 59 1 #21 Villanova 73 4 Providence 63 3 Boston College 70 2 Georgetown 58 1 #21 Villanova 58 3 Boston College 70 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: http://www.bigeast.org/fls/19400/pdfs/mensbball/record-book.pdf?SPSID=92557&SPID=11228&DB_OEM_ID=19400 2008-09 Big East Media Guide 136–138 2009-06-03 https://web.archive.org/web/20090428211249/http://www.bigeast.org/fls/19400/pdfs/mensbball/record-book.pdf?SPSID=92557&SPID=11228&DB_OEM_ID=19400 April 28, 2009 dead Tournament Category:Big East men's basketball tournament Category:College basketball tournaments in New York City Category:Sports competitions in Manhattan Big East men's basketball tournament Big East men's basketball tournament Category:1990s in Manhattan