The 1988 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament

Big East Men's Basketball Tournament

The Big East Men's Basketball Tournament is the conference championship tournament in men's basketball for the Big East Conference. The winner receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. Since 1983, the tournament has been held in Madison Square...

took place at Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden

Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...

 in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, from March 10 to March 13, 1988. Its winner received the Big East Conference

Big East Conference

The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members participate in 24 NCAA sports...

's automatic bid

Automatic bid

Automatic bid is a term generally used to describe a bid or berth to a tournament, granted based on performance in prior competition, and not based on subjective picking...

 to the 1988 NCAA Tournament

1988 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 1988 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 64 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 17, 1988, and ended with the championship game on April 4 returning to Kansas City, Missouri...

. It is a single-elimination tournament

Single-elimination tournament

A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...

 with four rounds. Pittsburgh had the best regular season conference record and received the #1 seed.

Syracuse defeated Villanova

Villanova Wildcats

The Villanova Wildcats is the name of the athletic teams of Villanova University. They compete in the Big East for every sport except football, where they compete in the Colonial Athletic Association .-Men's basketball:The Villanova Wildcats compete in the Big EAST and are currently coached by Jay...

 in the championship game 85–68, to claim its second Big East Tournament championship.

Bracket

Awards

Most Valuable Player: Sherman Douglas

Sherman Douglas

Sherman Douglas is a retired American professional basketball player from Syracuse University who played for the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers from 1989 to 2001...

, Syracuse

All Tournament Team

• Sherman Douglas
  Sherman Douglas
  Sherman Douglas is a retired American professional basketball player from Syracuse University who played for the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, New Jersey Nets and the Los Angeles Clippers from 1989 to 2001...
  
  , Syracuse
• Jerome Lane
  Jerome Lane
  Jerome Lane is a retired American professional basketball player. Lane attended Akron Saint Vincent-Saint Mary High School. He played collegiately at the University of Pittsburgh, where he led the Big East Conference in rebounding during the 1986-87 and the 1987-88 regular seasons. He led the...
  
  , Pittsburgh
• Mark Plansky, Villanova
• Ramón Ramos
  Ramon Ramos
  Ramon Ramos Manso is a retired Puerto Rican basketball player, both on the National Superior Basketball and National Basketball Association level...
  
  , Seton Hall
• Stephen Thompson
  Stephen Thompson (basketball)
  Stephen M. Thompson is an American former professional and collegiate basketball player.He attended Syracuse University, where he was named the Big East's Scholar Athlete of the Year...
  
  , Syracuse
• Doug West
  Doug West
  Jeffery Douglas "Doug" West is a retired American professional basketball player.A 6'7" shooting guard/small forward from Villanova University, West was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the 1989 NBA Draft...
  
  , Villanova