The presidents of the Big East Conference voted to
include all 16 member institutions in the men’s and women’s
basketball championship tournaments beginning in 2009. The Presidents
took this action at their annual meeting, which was held Nov. 6 in
Philadelphia, Pa.
“Our Presidents performed a very thorough review of the
tournament format,” said Commissioner Michael Tranghese. “After
extensive deliberation, it was decided that inviting all teams to
participate would provide a special opportunity to every men’s and
women’s basketball student-athlete.”
Currently, the top 12 teams in the final regular-season
standings advance to participate in the men’s and women’s
championships. The men’s championship is held in New York City at
Madison Square Garden. The women’s championship is held in Hartford,
Conn., at the Hartford Civic Center.
The new format will have the teams seeded 9 through 16 meet on
the first day of competition. The matchups will be No. 9 vs. No. 16,
No. 10 vs. No. 15, No. 11 vs. No. 14 and No. 12 vs. No. 13.
The winners of those four games will meet seeds 5 through 8 on the
second day of play. The 9/16 winner will advance to play the No. 8
seed. The 10/15 winner will play the No. 7 seed. The 11/14 winner will
meet the No. 6 seed. The 12/13 winner will play the No. 5 seed.
Those four winners will advance to play the top four seeds in the
quarterfinal round. Thus, the top four seeded teams still will not play
until the quarterfinals, which occurs in the current 12-team format.