The 2015–16 Big East Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2015, followed by the start of the followed by the start of the 2015–16 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. The season marked the 37th year in the conference's history, but the third as a non-football conference, which officially formed on July 1, 2013. Conference play began on December 30, 2015, and concluded in March with the 2016 Big East men's basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Villanova won the regular season championship by two games over Xavier with a 16–2 conference record. However, Seton Hall, who finished in third, won the Big East tournament, defeating Villanova in the championship game. Providence's Kris Dunn was named the conference's player of the year for the second straight year, while Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard and Villanova coach Jay Wright shared coach of the year.

Creighton received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament and lost in the quarterfinals.

Villanova, Xavier, Seton Hall, Providence and Butler all received bids to the NCAA tournament. Only Villanova advanced past the Second Round of the Tournament. On April 4, Villanova defeated North Carolina in the National Championship game to win the school's second NCAA Championship. Ryan Arcidiacono was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

Preseason Coaches' 1. Villanova (9) 2. Georgetown (1) 3. Butler 4. Xavier 5. Providence 6. Marquette 7. Seton Hall 8. DePaul 9. Creighton 10. St. John's

() first place votes

Preseason All-Big East teams

2015-16 Preseason All–Big East Preseason Player of the Year First Team Second Team Honorable Mention Preseason Rookie of the YearKris Dunn, Jr., G., ProvidenceKellen Dunham, Sr., G., ButlerRoosevelt Jones, Sr., F., ButlerD'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, Sr., G., GeorgetownRyan Arcidiacono, Jr., G., VillanovaJalen Reynolds, Jr., F., XavierBilly Garrett Jr., So., G., DePaulHenry Ellenson, Fr., F., MarquetteAngel Delgado, So., F., Seton HallIsaiah Whitehead, So., G., Seton HallDaniel Ochefu, Sr., F., VillanovaIsaac Copeland, So., F., GeorgetownLuke Fischer, Jr., F., MarquetteJalen Brunson, Fr., G., VillanovaTrevon Bluiett, So., F., XavierJalen Brunson, Fr., G., Villanova

Rankings + Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week

  Pre Wk2 Wk3 Wk4 Wk5 Wk6 Wk7 Wk8 Wk9 Wk10 Wk11 Wk12 Wk13 Wk14 Wk15 Wk16 Wk17 Wk18 Wk19 FinalButler AP 24 22 RV RV 18 17 9 9 18 23 18 RV RVRVN/A Coaches 22 20 RV 25 21 18 12 10 19 23 24 RV RV RVRVRVCreighton AP N/AC DePaul AP N/AC Georgetown AP RV RV RV RV RV N/AC RV RV RV RV RV Marquette AP RV N/AC RV Providence AP RV RV RV 23 15 14 10 12 8 12 16 10 11 20 23 RV RVRVN/AC RV RV 24 18 14 14 13 9 12 17 10 11 17 20 24 RV RVRVRVSeton Hall AP RV RV RV RV 20N/AC RV RV RV RV RV RV RV21RVSt. John's AP N/AC Villanova AP 11 11 8 8 9 12 17 16 11 6 4 6 3 1 1 1 3 36N/AC 9 8 9 7 6 13 17 16 13 7 4 6 4 1 1 1 2 261Xavier AP RV RV 23 12 12 10 6 6 10 7 5 7 6 5 8 5 5 59N/AC RV RV RV 18 13 10 6 6 12 8 6 8 5 4 7 5 5 5911

Regular season

Conference matrix This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play.   ButlerCreightonDePaulGeorgetownMarquetteProvidenceSeton HallSt. John'sVillanovaXaviervs. Butler – 1–10–20–21–12–00–20–22–02–0vs. Creighton1–1 – 0–21–11–12–01–10–22–01–1vs. DePaul2–02–0 – 2–01–11–12–01–12–02–0vs. Georgetown2–01–10–2 – 1–12–02–00–22–01–1vs. Marquette1–11–11–11–1 – 0–22–00–22–02–0vs. Providence0–20–21–10–22–0 – 2–00–21–11–1vs. Seton Hall2–01–10–20–20–20–2 – 0–22–01–1vs. St. John's2–02–01–12–02–02–02–0 – 2–02–0vs. Villanova0–20–20–20–20–21–10–20–2 – 1-1vs. Xavier0–21–10–21–10–20–21–10–21–1 – Total 10–8 9–9 3–15 7–11 8–10 10–8 12–6 1–17 16-2 14-4

Honors and awards

All-Americans

All-Big East awards and teams

2016 Big East Men's Basketball Individual Awards Award Recipient(s)Player of the YearKris Dunn, G., ProvidenceCoach of the YearKevin Willard, Seton HallJay Wright, VillanovaDefensive Player of the YearKris Dunn, G., ProvidenceFreshman of the YearHenry Ellenson, F., MarquetteMost Improved Player of the YearBen Bentil, F., ProvidenceScholar-Athlete of the YearKellen Dunham, G., ButlerSixth Man AwardJ. P. Macura, G., XavierSportsmanship AwardKellen Dunham, G., Butler

2016 Big East Men's Basketball All–Conference Teams First Team Second Team Honorable Mention All–Rookie TeamHenry Ellenson, Marquette †Ben Bentil, Providence †Kris Dunn, Providence †Isaiah Whitehead, Seton Hall †Josh Hart, Villanova Trevon Bluiett, XavierRoosevelt Jones, Butler Kelan Martin, Butler Maurice Watson, Creighton D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera, Georgetown Ryan Arcidiacono, VillanovaKellen Dunham, Butler Ángel Delgado, Seton Hall Daniel Ochefu, VillanovaEli Cain, DePaul Jessie Govan, Georgetown Haanif Cheatham, Marquette †Henry Ellenson, Marquette Kassoum Yakwe, St. John's †Jalen Brunson, Villanova †Edmond Sumner, Xavier† – Denotes unanimous selection.^Due to a tie in the voting, additional positions were named.

Postseason

Big East tournament

March 9–12, 2016 Big East Conference Basketball Tournament, Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Seeds All 10 Big East schools participated in the tournament. Teams were seeded by the 2015–16 Big East Conference season record. The top six teams received a first round bye. Seeding for the tournament was determined at the close of the regular conference season. Seed School Conference Tiebreaker 1 Villanova 16–2 2 Xavier 14–4 3 Seton Hall 12–6 4 Providence 10–8 2–0 vs. Butler 5 Butler 10–8 0–2 vs. Providence 6 Creighton 9–9 7 Marquette 8–10 8 Georgetown 7–11 9 DePaul 3–15 10 St. John's 1–17

Schedule GameTime*Matchup#TelevisionAttendance First round – Wednesday, March 917:00 pm#9 DePaul 53 vs. #8 Georgetown 70FS112,60429:30 pm#10 St. John's 93 vs. #7 Marquette 101 Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 10312:00 pm#8 Georgetown 67 vs. #1 Villanova 81FS114,86342:30 pm#5 Butler 60 vs. #4 Providence 7457:00 pm#7 Marquette 72 vs. #2 Xavier 9013,81369:30 pm#6 Creighton 73 vs. #3 Seton Hall 81 Semifinals – Friday, March 1177:00 pm#4 Providence 68 vs. #1 Villanova 76FS117,13089:30 pm#3 Seton Hall 87 vs. #2 Xavier 83 Championship – Saturday, March 1295:30 pm#3 Seton Hall 69 vs. #1 Villanova 67FOX19,812 *Game times in Eastern Time. Tournament seed in parentheses. #-Rankings denote Associated Press Poll ranking.

Bracket

NCAA tournament

The Big East Conference had five bids to the 2016 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. Seed Region School First Four Round of 64 Round of 32 Sweet 16 Elite Eight Final Four Championship2 South Villanova  (15) UNC Asheville - W, 86–56 (7) Iowa - W, 87–68 (3) Miami (FL) - W, 92–69 (1) Kansas - W, 64–59 (2) Oklahoma - W, 95–51 (1) North Carolina - W, 77–742 East Xavier  (15) Weber State - W, 71–53 (7) Wisconsin - L, 63–66 6 Midwest Seton Hall  (11) Gonzaga - L, 52–68 9 Midwest Butler  (8) Texas Tech - W, 71–61 (1) Virginia - L, 69–77 9 Midwest Providence  (8) USC - W, 70–69 (1) North Carolina - L, 66–85 W–L (%):0–0 ()4–1 ()1–3 ()1-0 ()1–0 ()1–0 ()1–0 () Total: 9-4 ()

National Invitational tournament

Creighton earned the sole NIT bid for the conference. Seed Bracket School First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals4 St. Bonaventure Creighton (5) Alabama - W, 72–54 (8) Wagner - W, 87–54 (2) BYU - L, 82–88 W–L (%):1–0 ()1–0 ()0–1 ()0–0 ()0–0 () Total: 2–1 ()

References

External links Big East website