1986 Big East men's basketball tournament

1986 Big East men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season1985–86
Teams9
SiteMadison Square Garden
New York City
ChampionsSt. John's (2nd title)
Winning coachLou Carnesecca (2nd title)
MVPDwayne Washington (Syracuse)
TelevisionBig East Network, ESPN
← 1985
1987 →
1985–86 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 4 St. John's 14 2   .875 31 5   .861
No. 9 Syracuse 14 2   .875 26 6   .813
No. 13 Georgetown 11 5   .688 24 8   .750
Villanova 10 6   .625 23 14   .622
Providence 7 9   .438 17 14   .548
Pittsburgh 6 10   .375 15 14   .517
Boston College 4 12   .250 13 15   .464
Connecticut 3 13   .188 12 16   .429
Seton Hall 3 13   .188 14 18   .438
1986 Big East tournament winner
As of March 31, 1986[1]
Rankings from AP Poll


The 1986 Big East men's basketball tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from March 5 to March 8, 1986. Its winner received the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 1986 NCAA tournament. It is a single-elimination tournament with four rounds. St. John's had the best regular season conference record and received the #1 seed.

St. John's defeated Syracuse in the championship game 70–69, to claim its second Big East tournament championship.