2003 Big East men's basketball tournament

2003 Big East men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2002–03
Teams12
SiteMadison Square Garden
New York City
ChampionsPittsburgh (1st title)
Winning coachBen Howland (1st title)
MVPJulius Page (Pittsburgh)
Top scorersCarmelo Anthony (Syracuse)
Ben Gordon (Connecticut)
(50 points)
← 2002
2004 →
2002–03 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
East
Boston College 10 6   .625 19 12   .613
No. 23 Connecticut 10 6   .625 23 10   .697
Providence 8 8   .500 18 14   .563
Villanova 8 8   .500 15 16   .484
St. John's 7 9   .438 21 13   .618
Miami 4 12   .250 11 17   .393
Virginia Tech* 4 12   .250 11 18   .379
West
No. 13 Syracuse 13 3   .813 30 5   .857
No. 4 Pittsburgh 13 3   .813 28 5   .848
Seton Hall 10 6   .625 17 13   .567
No. 22 Notre Dame 10 6   .625 24 10   .706
Georgetown 6 10   .375 19 15   .559
West Virginia 5 11   .313 14 15   .483
Rutgers* 4 12   .250 12 16   .429
2003 Big East tournament winner
As of March 31, 2003[1]
Rankings from AP Poll
*Did not qualify for 2003 Big East tournament


The 2003 Big East men's basketball tournament, a part of the 2002–03 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place from March 12–15, 2003, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Its winner will receive the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA tournament. It was a single-elimination tournament with four rounds and the four highest seeds (two from each Big East division) receive byes in the first round. The 6 Big East teams with the best conference records from both the East and West Divisions of the Big East Conference were invited to participate. Boston College, who had an identical 10–6 record as Connecticut, received the #1 seed from the East Division due to a tie breaker. Likewise, Syracuse, who had an identical 13–3 conference record to Pitt, received the #1 seed from West Division due to tiebreakers. Virginia Tech from the East Division and Rutgers from the West Division failed to make the tournament.[2]
Pittsburgh defeated Connecticut, 74–56, in the finals to earn its first Big East tournament championship.