The 1980–81 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the second in conference history, and involved its eight full-time member schools.
Boston College won the regular season championship with a 10–4 record. Syracuse was the champion of the Big East tournament.
Season summary & highlights The Big East expanded for the first time, becoming an eight-team conference with the addition of Villanova as a member. For the first time, Big East members played each other twice during the regular season, and the conference season expanded from six games the previous season to 14 games. Boston College won the regular-season championship, with a record of 10–4. After finishing 6–8 during the regular season, Syracuse advanced from a No. 6 seed in the Big East tournament to win the tournament championship with a triple-overtime victory over Villanova. The Big East tournament took place at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse finished as the runner-up in the 1981 National Invitation Tournament.
Head coaches SchoolCoachSeasonNotes Boston College Tom Davis 4th Big East Coach of the Year Connecticut Dom Perno 4th Georgetown John Thompson, Jr. 9th Providence Gary Walters 2nd Resigned April 6, 1981 St. John's Lou Carnesecca 13th Seton Hall Bill Raftery 11th Resigned November 3, 1981 Syracuse Jim Boeheim 5th Villanova Rollie Massimino 8th
Rankings Four Big East teams made appearances in the Top 20 of the Associated Press poll during the season.
+ 1980–81 Big East Conference Weekly RankingsKey: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. AP Poll Pre 12/1 12/8 12/15 12/22 12/29 1/5 1/12 1/19 1/26 2/2 2/9 2/16 2/23 3/2 FinalBoston College Connecticut 20 20 Georgetown 16 19 Providence St. John's 17 16 Seton Hall Syracuse 19 18 20 Villanova
Regular-season statistical leaders
ScoringNameSchoolPPG John Bagley BC 20.4 Sleepy Floyd GU 19.0 Dan Callandrillo SHU 16.3 John Pinone Vill 15.8 Corny Thompson Conn 15.0
ReboundingNameSchoolRPG Danny Schayes Syr 8.4 Corny Thompson Conn 8.1 David Russell SJU 7.8 John Pinone Vill 7.4 Wayne McKoy SJU 7.1
AssistsNameSchoolAPG Eddie Moss Syr 5.4 Stewart Granger Vill 5.3 Karl Hobbs Conn 4.7 Jim Panaggio Prov 3.9 Ricky Tucker Prov 3.7
StealsNameSchoolSPG Eddie Moss Syr 2.5 Sleepy Floyd GU 1.9 Erich Santifer Syr 1.9 Fred Brown GU 1.9 Stewart Granger Vill 1.8
BlocksNameSchoolBPG Danny Schayes Syr 2.2 Rich Hunger Prov 1.6 Howard McNeil SHU 1.6 Burnett Adams BC 1.6 Wayne McKoy SJU 1.2
Field GoalsNameSchoolFG% Chuck Aleksinas Conn .631 John Pinone Vill .554 Marty Headd Syr .549 Erich Santifer Syr .530 David Russell SJU .518
Free ThrowsNameSchoolFT% Martin Clark BC .832 Danny Schayes Syr .822 Sleepy Floyd GU .806 Larry Washington SJU .795 Corny Thompson Conn .792
Postseason
Big East tournament
Seeding For the first time, all conference members participated in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament, with no team receiving a bye into the semifinals. Seeding was based on conference record, with tiebreakers applied as necessary. The tournament's seeding was as follows:
Bracket
NCAA tournament
Three Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. Georgetown lost in the first round in the East Region, Villanova lost in the East Region quarterfinals, and Boston College lost in the Mideast Region semifinals.
School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Boston College Mideast 5 12 Ball State, W 93–90 4 Wake Forest, W 67–64 9 Saint Joseph's, L 42–41 Villanova East 9 8 Houston, W 90–72 1 Virginia, L 54–50 Georgetown East 7 10 James Madison, L 61–55
National Invitation Tournament
Three Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. They played in three different unnamed brackets. St. John's lost in the first round and Connecticut in the second round, but Syracuse advanced to the final and finished as the tournament runner-up.
School Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Syracuse Marquette, W 88–81 Holy Cross, W 77–57 Michigan, W 91–76 Purdue, W 70–63 Tulsa, L 86–84 Connecticut South Florida, W 65–55 Minnesota, L 84–66 St. John's Alabama, L 73–69
Awards and honors Big East Conference Player of the Year: John Bagley, Boston College, G, So. Freshman of the Year: Fred Brown, Georgetown, G Coach of the Year: Tom Davis, Boston College (4th season)
All-Big East First Team: John Bagley, Boston College, G, So., , , Bridgeport, Conn. Corny Thompson, Connecticut, F, Jr., , , Middletown, Conn. Sleepy Floyd, Georgetown, G, So., , , Gastonia, N.C. Danny Schayes, Syracuse, F, Sr., , , Syracuse, N.Y. John Pinone, Villanova, F, So., , , Hartford, Conn.
All-Big East First Team Chuck Aleksinas, Connecticut, C, Jr., , , Litchfield, Conn. Eric Smith, Georgetown, F, Jr., , , Potomac, Md. Dan Callandrillo, Seton Hall, G, Jr., , , North Bergen, N.J. David Russell, St. John's, F, So., , , New York, N.Y. Marty Headd, Syracuse, G, Sr., , , Syracuse, N.Y.
All-Big East Third Team: Dwan Chandler, Boston College, G, Jr., , , Boston, Mass. Mike McKay, Connecticut, G, Jr., , , Bridgeport, Conn. Howard McNeil, Seton Hall, C, Jr., , , Glassboro, N.J. Frank Gilroy, St. John's, F, Sr., , , Flushing, N.Y. Wayne McKoy, St. John's, C, Sr., , , Elizabethtown, N.C. Stewart Granger, Villanova, G, So., , , Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Big East All-Freshman Team: Jay Murphy, Boston College, F, Fr., , , Meriden, Conn. Martin Clark, Boston College, F, Fr., , Folkestone, United Kingdom Vernon Giscombe, Connecticut, G, Fr., , , The Bronx, N.Y. Fred Brown, Georgetown, G, Fr., , , The Bronx, N.Y. Otis Thorpe, Providence, F, Fr., , , Boynton Beach, Fla. Sir John Collins, Seton Hall, F, Fr.,
All-Americans The following players were selected to the 1981 Associated Press All-America teams.
Second Team All-America: Sleepy Floyd, Georgetown, Key Stats: 19.0 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.6 apg, 46.7 FG%, 607 points
AP Honorable Mention John Bagley, Boston College John Pinone, Villanova David Russell, St. John's Danny Schayes, Syracuse Corny Thompson, Connecticut
See also 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season 1980–81 Boston College Eagles men's basketball team 1980–81 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team 1980–81 Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team 1980–81 St. John's Redmen basketball team 1980–81 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team 1980–81 Villanova Wildcats men's basketball team
References