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Big East Tournament Will Be A Garden Party

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 7, 2009

Best. Memory. Ever.

Mike Tranghese, who is retiring this season as the Big East's commissioner, has had the pleasure of seeing every tournament game played in Madison Square Garden.

We asked him an impossible question: What's your best memory of the Big East Tournament?

"Probably the '84 championship game," he said. "It was Georgetown and Syracuse, which may be as good a college basketball game as I've ever seen. Patrick Ewing and Pearl Washington, it was just incredible.

"It just captured New York City. It went into overtime, a very controversial ending. That was when we truly captured New York City. It was truly electrifying to be in that building that night.

"For me selfishly, my best moment occurs every Friday night when I walk into Madison Square Garden for our semifinals. There's no basketball atmosphere that's close to that. The building is separated by four sets of fans. You can't get a ticket. I get chills every time. It's just very, very special."

We also tried to pin Tranghese down on his best five Big East players of all-time.

"I wouldn't even try," he said. "I don't know how you do it. I'm biased from the beginning. Georgetown's Patrick Ewing, St. John's Chris Mullin and Syracuse's Pearl Washington hold special places in the history of the Big East.

"Patrick is clearly the best center that's played, Chris the best shooter and Pearl is, without question, the most electrifying player we've ever had in our league. But I can't say Pearl is better than UConn's Ray Allen or Georgetown's Allen Iverson. Then you look at UConn's Hasheem Thabeet and Pittsburgh's DeJuan Blair. I don't know. I wouldn't even try."

Bigger Not Always Better

If Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese had his way, the University of South Florida wouldn't be participating in this year's Big East Tournament.

That's because Tranghese "strongly recommended" that the league tournament not expand to all 16 teams this season. However, the league's presidents voted to expand the tournament from 12 to 16 teams. If the tournament had remained at 12 teams, St. John's, USF, Rutgers and DePaul - who finished 13th through 16th in the league, respectively - would have remained home.

While it gives every school an opportunity to participate in the tournament, Tranghese said "logistically it's nightmarish."

"We used to have a big event on Tuesday the night before the tournament began, where we would honor the regular-season champion and coach of the year," he said. "We'd get incredible media coverage from that. We had to do away with that and the players' banquet. There are some things that have been gained, but significant things that have been lost."

Because an additional day was added to the tournament, none of Tuesday's first-round games will be televised. It's the first time since the mid-1990s that every game of the tournament will not be televised. ESPN, however, will continue to televise every game from Wednesday's second round to Saturday night's final.

No More Trivial Pursuit For USF

This is the University of South Florida's fourth season in the Big East, but the Bulls' first appearance in the Big East Tournament. So when USF steps on the Madison Square Garden floor late Tuesday night, they will no longer be the answer to a trivia question: Which is the only Big East team never to play in the Big East Tournament?

Four years ago, USF, Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville and Marquette left Conference USA for the Big East. The five newcomers haven't exactly had much success in Madison Square Garden.

Louisville and Marquette each have 1-3 records in the Big East Tournament, while Cincinnati is 0-2 and DePaul 0-1. Combined, the former C-USA schools are only 2-9 in the Big East Tournament.

Start Spreading The News

Mike Tranghese knows he's biased. Still, he strongly believes there is no other league tournament better than the Big East's.

"It's the best environment," he said. "It's New York City. We don't move. Other leagues continue to move. I understand why they move around.

"I think our tournament is a little bit like the SEC football championship in Atlanta. Their advantage they have is a great city, so people flock to it. That's what we have with our basketball tournament. People come to New York every year not only for the tournament, but for all the other amenities that the city can offer. I see it all the time - the kids are in awe of playing in the building. As the moniker says: 'The World's Most Famous Arena.'"

University of South Florida assistant Dan Hipsher has been coaching since they played with peach baskets. OK, not that long, but he has 30 years of coaching experience. This, however, will be his first time in Madison Square Garden. He said he's going to have to borrow someone's cell-phone camera and take a picture.

"No question," he said. "I'll be in awe."

Haven't We Met Before?

In the Big East's 29-year history, the most frequent tournament final has been Georgetown vs. Syracuse. The Hoyas and Orange have met five times for the championship, with the Hoyas winning four of the five. However, they haven't played each other in the final since 1992. UConn and Pittsburgh have met in the final three times, the only other championship matchup that has occurred more than twice. Here are the teams ranked by number of appearances in the final:

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