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1979–80 Big East Conference men's basketball season

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1979–80 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationDecember 1, 1979
through March 1, 1980
Number of teams7
TV partner(s)ESPN
Regular Season
ChampionSyracuse, St. John's, and Georgetown (5–1)
Season MVPJohn Duren – Georgetown
Tournament
ChampionsGeorgetown
Finals MVPCraig Shelton – Georgetown
Basketball seasons
1979–80 Big East men's basketball standings
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 1979–80 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the first in conference history, and involved its seven full-time member schools.

Syracuse, St. John's, and Georgetown tied for first place in the regular season with identical 5–1 records. Georgetown was the champion of the first Big East tournament.

Season summary & highlights

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  • A basketball-centered conference, the Big East developed a close working relationship with ESPN, which had launched on September 7, 1979, as the first all-sports television network and began televising college basketball in November 1979. Thanks to its quality of play and partnership with ESPN at a time when college basketball's popularity was growing rapidly, the Big East quickly developed a reputation as a powerhouse of college basketball and a dominating force in the sport.[2]
  • Each Big East member school played a six-game regular-season conference schedule, meeting each other member school once.
  • Syracuse, St. John's, and Georgetown finished tied for first place during the regular season with identical records of 5–1.
  • Georgetown won the tournament championship.
  • Syracuse and St. John's spent the entire season ranked in the AP Top 20, with Syracuse reaching No. 2. Georgetown also made the Top 20 for part of the season.
  • Georgetown's propensity for playing in tight games decided in the final seconds earned the 1979–80 team the nickname "the Heart Attack Hoyas."
  • At Syracuse, the season was the last for the "Bouie and Louis Show," the combination of center Roosevelt Bouie and forward Louis Orr.[3]
  • On January 13, No. 5 Syracuse fell 10 points behind in a game at No. 9 Purdue, but outscored the Boilermakers 10–2 in the final two minutes to rally to a 66–61 victory and remain undefeated.[3]
  • On February 13 Georgetown upset No. 3 Syracuse on Syracuse's last game at Manley Field House, breaking a 57-game Syracuse winning streak at Manley and prompting Georgetown coach John Thompson Jr. to exult "Manley Field House is officially closed" during his post-game press conference. The upset and Thompson's quote are credited as the beginning of a Georgetown-Syracuse rivalry that was a defining feature of the original Big East Conference for the rest of its 34-year existence.[3][4][5][6]
  • The Big East tournament took place at the Providence Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

Head coaches

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School Coach Season Notes
Boston College Tom Davis 3rd
Connecticut Dom Perno 3rd
Georgetown John Thompson, Jr. 8th Big East Coach of the Year
Providence Gary Walters 1st
St. John's Lou Carnesecca 12th
Seton Hall Bill Raftery 10th
Syracuse Jim Boeheim 4th

Rankings

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Syracuse and St. John's were ranked in the Top 20 of the Associated Press poll throughout the season, with Syracuse reaching No. 2. Georgetown also reached the Top 20.

1979–80 Big East Conference Weekly Rankings
Key: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
AP Poll[7] Pre 12/3 12/10 12/17 12/26 1/2 1/7 1/14 1/21 1/28 2/4 2/11 2/18 2/25 Final
Boston College
Connecticut
Georgetown 19 17 16 17 17 18 20 20 11
Providence
St. John's 16 9 15 15 15 17 14 10 9 9 8 7 7 8 13
Seton Hall
Syracuse 12 11 10 10 9 9 5 3 6 4 2 2 4 3 6

Regular-season statistical leaders

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Postseason

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Big East tournament

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Main article: 1980 Big East men's basketball tournament

Seeding

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The team which finished in first place during the regular season after the application of tiebreakers was seeded No. 1 in the Big East tournament and received a bye into the seminfinals, while the other six teams were seeded according to their finish in the regular season (with tiebreakers applied as necessary), and played a quarterfinal round. However, the regular season finished with a three-way tie for first place between Syracuse, St. John's, and Georgetown and with each of them posting a head-to-head record of 1–1 against one another. The conference broke the tie with a coin flip, which Syracuse won for the No. 1 seed. St. John's then received the No. 2 seed and Georgetown No. 3 based on their head-to-head record.[8][9]

With that resolved, the tournament's seeding was as follows: (1) Syracuse, (2) St. John's, (3) Georgetown, (4) Connecticut, (5) Boston College, (6) Seton Hall, (7) Providence

Bracket

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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

NCAA tournament

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Main article: 1980 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The Big East sent three of its seven teams to the NCAA Tournament, with Syracuse securing a No. 1 seed in the East Region. St. John's lost in the Mideast Region quarterfinals, Syracuse in the East Region semifinals, and Georgetown in the East Region final.

School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8
Georgetown East 3 Bye 6 Iona, W 74–71 2 Maryland, W 74–68 5 Iowa, L 81–80
Syracuse East 1 Bye 8 Villanova, W 97–83 5 Iowa, L 88–77
St. John's Mideast 3 Bye 6 Purdue, L 87–72

National Invitation Tournament

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Main article: 1980 National Invitation Tournament

Boston College and Connecticut received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. Playing in two different unnamed brackets, Connecticut lost in the first round and Boston College in the second round.

School Round 1 Round 2
Boston College Boston University, W 95–74 Virginia, L 57–77
Connecticut Saint Peter's, L 71–56

Awards and honors

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Big East Conference

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Player of the Year:

Freshman of the Year:

Coach of the Year:

All-Big East First Team:

All-Big East Second Team:

All-Big East Third Team:

  • Joe Beaulieu, Boston College, C, Jr., 6 ft 8 in (203 cm), Boston, Mass.
  • Mike McKay, Connecticut, G, So., 6 ft 5 in (196 cm), 190 lb (86 kg), Bridgeport, Conn.
  • Rudy Williams, Providence, G, So., 6 ft 7 in (201 cm), 195 lb (88 kg), Cambridge, Mass.
  • Eddie Moss, Syracuse, G, Jr., 6 ft 2 in (188 cm), 180 lb (82 kg), Rosedale, N.Y.
  • Marty Headd, Syracuse, G, Jr., 6 ft 2 in (188 cm), 180 lb (82 kg), Syracuse, N.Y.

Big East All-Freshman Team:

  • John Bagley, Boston College, G, 6 ft 0 in (183 cm), 185 lb (84 kg), Bridgeport, Conn.
  • Bruce Kuczenski, Connecticut, F, 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), 230 lb (104 kg), Bristol, Conn.
  • Ricky Tucker, Providence, G, 6–10, 240, Philadelphia, Pa.
  • David Russell, St. John's, F, 6 ft 7 in (201 cm), 215 lb (98 kg), New York, N.Y.
  • Erich Santifer, Syracuse, G, 6 ft 5 in (196 cm), 180 lb (82 kg), Ann Arbor, Mich.

All-Americans

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The following players were selected to the 1980 Associated Press All-America teams.

Main article: 1980 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Second Team All-America:

  • Reggie Carter, St. John's, Key Stats: 15.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.3 apg, 50.6 FG%, 404 points

AP Honorable Mention

See also

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References

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  1. ^ sports-reference.com 1979-80 Big East Conference Season Summary
  2. ^ "The 1978-79 Season". Hardwood History. March 22, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "1979-1980 Syracuse Orangemen". Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  4. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 7. Craig Shelton". Archived from the original on February 14, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2014.
  5. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: The Top 100: 2. Eric Floyd". Archived from the original on February 24, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  6. ^ "The Georgetown Basketball History Project: Classic Games". Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  7. ^ "1979-80 Men's Big East Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved March 24, 2025.
  8. ^ Burton, Rick (February 14, 1980). "Big East Meetings Over". Syracuse Post-Standard. p. B-4. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
  9. ^ Burton, Rick (February 25, 1980). "Are Orangemen Special?". Syracuse Post-Standard. p. B-3. Retrieved August 9, 2024.
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