Big East Men's Basketball History: Conference Champions
The Big East Men's Basketball Tournament determines the Big East Conference champion and the winner of the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Since 1983 the tournament has been held in Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, New York. In 2006, only the top 12 teams in the conference were eligible to compete because of the recent expansion to 16 teams. The top 4 teams from the regular season earned a bye in the first round of the tournament. The tournament is the longest running conference tournament at any one site in all of college basketball. It is also the only tournament that has every single game carried on national TV by ESPN and ESPN2. Starting in 2005, all 11 games have been carried in high-definition.
[edit] Past Winners
| Year | Winner | Regular Season Champion |
| 1979 - 1980 | Georgetown | Syracuse |
| 1980 - 1981 | Syracuse | Boston College |
| 1981 - 1982 | Georgetown | Villanova |
| 1982 - 1983 | St. John's | Boston College |
| 1983 - 1984 | Georgetown | Georgetown |
| 1984 - 1985 | Georgetown | St. John's |
| 1985 - 1986 | St. John's | St. John's |
| 1986 - 1987 | Georgetown | Syracuse |
| 1987 - 1988 | Syracuse | Pittsburgh |
| 1988 - 1989 | Georgetown | Georgetown |
| 1989 - 1990 | Connecticut | Connecticut |
| 1990 - 1991 | Seton Hall | Syracuse |
| 1991 - 1992 | Syracuse | Seton Hall |
| 1992 - 1993 | Seton Hall | Seton Hall |
| 1993 - 1994 | Providence | Connecticut |
| 1994 - 1995 | Villanova | Connecticut |
| 1995 - 1996 | Connecticut | Connecticut |
| 1996 - 1997 | Boston College | Villanova |
| 1997 - 1998 | Connecticut | Connecticut |
| 1998 - 1999 | Connecticut | Connecticut |
| 1999 - 2000 | St. John's | Syracuse |
| 2000 - 2001 | Boston College | Boston College |
| 2001 - 2002 | Connecticut | Pittsburgh |
| 2002 - 2003 | Pittsburgh | Syracuse |
| 2003 - 2004 | Connecticut | Pittsburgh |
| 2004 - 2005 | Syracuse | Boston College |
| 2005 - 2006 | Syracuse | Connecticut |
