Big East signs deal to keep tourney at MSG
The most consequential box-out of college basketball season didn’t happen on a court. It happened with a pen.
The Big East has signed an extension to keep its conference tournament at Madison Square Garden through 2028, delivering a sharp elbow as the Big Ten and ACC encroached on the sport’s most coveted real estate.
The previous contract ran through 2026 but contained an opt-out provision in 2022. The new deal is iron-clad through 2028.
“We’re thrilled that we’re going to be able to keep the magic of this tournament going,” commissioner Val Ackerman said. “For us, it’s a big announcement, and hopefully great news for everybody who’s a Big East supporter.”
It’s a major development for the Big East, which began playing its tourney at the mecca in 1983. The Big Ten Tournament moved there last winter, setting up shop the week before championship week – an undercard arrangement that did not go over well with Big Ten coaches. Speaking with reporters in October, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany acknowledged his league would seek to revisit the Garden every few years – but not in the early week.
In other words, he was eyeing the traditional championship week – the Big East’s week.
“We’ve talked to (Madison Square Garden) about the future,” Delany said.
Two weeks later ACC commissioner John Swofford, whose conference tourney took place in Brooklyn last March and who also rejected the undercardweek concept, said his league will “be in New York periodically” but added “it’s just a question of where.”
Translation: He was eyeing championship week at MSG, too.
These shots across the bow didn’t sit well with Big East officials and coaches.
“I don’t think it’s smart of any one of us in college basketball to say we’re going to push the other one out,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said during Big East media day, later adding, “I don’t think it’s collegial for any conference, especially the leader of a conference, to say that about another conference.”