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1996–97 Big East Conference men's basketball season

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1996–97 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationNovember 15, 1996
through March 8, 1997
Number of teams13
TV partner(s)ESPN
Regular Season
Champion
Season MVPPat Garrity – Notre Dame
Tournament
ChampionsBoston College
Finals MVPScoonie Penn – Boston College
Basketball seasons
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

The 1996–97 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 18th in conference history, and involved its 13 full-time member schools.

Boston College and Villanova were the regular-season co-champions of the Big East 6 Division with identical records of 12–6, and Georgetown won the regular-season Big East 7 Division championship with a record of 11–5. Boston College won the Big East tournament championship.

Season summary & highlights

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  • The Big East continued to use the divisional structure which had debuted the previous season, with six of its teams playing in the Big East 6 Division and seven in the Big East 7 Division. The divisional structure lasted through the 1997–98 season.
  • The Big East played an 18-game regular-season conference schedule, making it impossible for each team to play each other conference member twice in a home-and-home series during the regular season, as Big East teams had from the 1980–81 season through the 1994–95 seasons. As they had the previous season. each team played six conference opponents twice in a home-and-home series and the other six once each. The schedule was unbalanced, with teams playing anywhere from one to four home-and-home series against teams in their own division and anywhere from two to five home-and-home series against teams in the other division. A notable anomaly that resulted was that Georgetown and St. John's each played Syracuse — in rivalries that had contributed to the rise of the Big East Conference to national prominence during the 1980s — only once for the first time since the conference's first season in 1979–80.
  • Boston College and Villanova were the regular-season co-champions of the Big East 6 Division with identical records of 12–6. It was the third regular-season championship or co-championship as well as the first divisional title for both schools.
  • Georgetown won the regular-season Big East 7 Division championship with a record of 11–5. It was the seventh regular-season championship or co-championship and second consecutive divisional title for Georgetown.
  • Boston College won its first Big East tournament championship.
  • The Big East introduced its Most Improved Player award, presented for the first time at the end of the season.

Head coaches

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School Coach Season Notes
Boston College Jim O'Brien 11th Resigned April 2, 1997
Connecticut Jim Calhoun 11th
Georgetown John Thompson, Jr. 25th
Miami Leonard Hamilton 7th
Notre Dame John MacLeod 6th Big East Coach of the Year
Pittsburgh Ralph Willard 3rd
Providence Pete Gillen 3rd
Rutgers Bob Wenzel 9th Fired March 6, 1997
St. John's Fran Fraschilla 1st
Seton Hall George Blaney 3rd Fired March 10, 1997
Syracuse Jim Boeheim 21st
Villanova Steve Lappas 5th
West Virginia Gale Catlett 19th

Rankings

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Villanova was ranked in the Associated Press poll Top 25 all season, reaching No. 4. Boston College and Syracuse also spent time in the Top 25.

1996–97 Big East Conference Weekly Rankings
Key: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
AP Poll[4] Pre 11/18 11/25 12/2 12/9 12/16 12/23 12/30 1/6 1/13 1/20 1/27 2/3 2/10 2/17 2/24 3/3 Final
Boston College 21 21 23 20 25 25 25 23 19 22 23
Connecticut
Georgetown
Miami
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
Providence
Rutgers
St. John's
Seton Hall
Syracuse 12 13 12 19
Villanova 7 6 5 5 4 10 10 10 8 16 12 14 16 18 19 18 21 20
West Virginia

Regular-season statistical leaders

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Postseason

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Big East tournament

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Main article: 1997 Big East men's basketball tournament

Seeding

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The division winner with the best record received the No. 1 seed in the Big East tournament, the division winner with the second-best record received the No. 2 seed, and the second-place finisher with the best record received the No. 3 seed. The rest of the schools were seeded fourth through thirteenth based on conference record and tiebreakers. Teams seeded fourth through thirteenth played a first-round game, and the other three teams received a bye into the second round.

Villanova received the No. 1 seed based on it finishing as co-champion of the Big East 6 Division and winning the tiebreaker with Boston College. Georgetown received the No. 2 seed by winning the Big East 7 Division outright. Boston College received the No. 3 seed as the second-place finisher (after losing the tiebreaker with Villanova) with the best record. The tournament's seeding thus was as follows: (1) Villanova, (2) Georgetown, (3) Boston College, (4) Providence, (5) West Virginia, (6) Pittsburgh, (7) Miami, (8) Syracuse, (9) Notre Dame, (10) St. John's, (11) Connecticut, (12) Seton Hall, (13) Rutgers.

Bracket

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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 76OT
10 St. John's 68

NCAA tournament

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Main article: 1997 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Four Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. Georgetown lost in the first round and Villanova and Boston College in the second round. Providence was defeated in the Southeast Region final.

School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8
Providence Southeast 10 7 Marquette, W 81–59 2 Duke, W 98–87 14 Chattanooga, W 71–65 4 Arizona, L 96–92(OT)
Villanova East 4 13 Long Island, W 101–91 5 California, L 75–68
Boston College West 5 12 Valparaiso, W 73–66 4 Saint Joseph's, L 81–77(OT)
Georgetown East 10 7 Charlotte, L 79–67

National Invitation Tournament

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Main article: 1997 National Invitation Tournament

Five Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. At least one played in each of the tournament's four unnamed brackets. Miami and Syracuse lost in the first round and Pittsburgh in the second round. Notre Dame was defeated in the quarterfinals, but Connecticut reached the semifinals.

As a result of the University of Michigan basketball scandal, all of Michigan's tournament wins later were vacated, including its victories over Miami and Notre Dame.

School Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals
Connecticut Iona, W 71–66 Bradley, W 63–47 Nebraska, W 76–67 Florida State, L 71–65
Notre Dame Oral Roberts, W 74–58 TCU, W 82–72 Michigan, L 67–66
Pittsburgh New Orleans, W 82–63 Arkansas, L 86–73
Miami Michigan, L 76–63
Syracuse Florida State, L 82–67

Awards and honors

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Big East Conference

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Player of the Year:

Defensive Player of the Year:

Rookie of the Year:

Most Improved Player:

Coach of the Year:

All-Big East First Team

All-Big East Second Team:

All-Big East Third Team:

Big East All-Rookie Team:

  • Richard Hamilton, Connecticut, G., Fr., 5 ft 11 in (180 cm), 180 lb (82 kg), Coatesville, Pa.
  • Earl Johnson, Rutgers, G, Fr., 6 ft 7 in (201 cm), 212 lb (96 kg), Miami, Fla.
  • Shaheen Holloway, Seton Hall, G, Fr., 5 ft 10 in (178 cm), 173 lb (78 kg), Queens, N.Y.
  • Jason Hart, Syracuse, G, Fr., 6 ft 3 in (191 cm), 180 lb (82 kg), Los Angeles, Calif.
  • Tim Thomas, Villanova, F, Fr., 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), 240 lb (109 kg), Paterson, N.J.

All-Americans

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The following players were selected to the 1997 Associated Press All-America teams.

Main article: 1997 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

AP Honorable Mention

See also

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References

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  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.
  4. ^ "1996-97 Men's Big East Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved April 12, 2025.
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