The Holy Land of Hoops

Just figured I would post a little BET history on here for both the new and old members of the Big East. The first BET was held in Providence, which was entirely fitting since the man who is responsible for putting the whole thing together was Dave Gavitt, the former coach and AD at Providence and the first conference commissioner of the Big East Conference. It was always his goal to put the tourney permanently at MSG. He was asked when and his answer would be he would know when the time was right. According to his long time right hand man and second Big East commish, Mike Tranghese, when Mullin, Washington and the big fish Ewing all committed to the Big East (St. John's, Cuse, and G'Town), he said the time had come. So after making a trip to the Carrier Dome and Hartford, the Big East Tournament arrived at Madison Square Garden in 1983 and never left. Bobby Huggins famously said that it was harder to win the Big East Tournament than win the NCAA some years. And while the Saturday night championship game was always an event, the Friday night semi-finals has always been the best night of the tourney because you always had two unbelievable games. Georgetown and UConn hold the record of seven championships. Of the current Big East schools, here is the list of Tournament Champions

Georgetown (7), last in 2007
St. John's (3), last in 2000
Seton Hal (2), last in 1993
Villanova (1), last in 1995
Providence (1), last in 1994

All Time, the list looks like this:

UConn (7), last in 2011
Georgetown (7), last in 2007
Syracuse (5), last in 2006
Louisville (3), last in 2013
St. John's (3), last in 2000
Pitt (2), last in 2008
Boston College (2), last in 2001
Seton Hal (2), last in 1993
West Virginia (1), last in 2010
Villanova (1), last in 1995
Providence (1), last in 1994

Two weeks from ladt night, the newest Big East Champion will be crowned on the corner of 7th and 34th in New York City. I've attached two video look backs from last year. The first is a bit better. As you will see, it's been a great tradition and we are all entrusted to keep it special. Go Big East!

Great summary of the BET.
I would hope this year that ticketholders would stay for all games, including those not involving their own teams. Make the atmosphere loud and electric. Such a great event and city, and running into the weekend, there's no reason not to enjoy New York for 4-5 days.