2008–09 Big East Conference men's basketball season


The 2008–09 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 30th in conference history, and involved its 16 full-time member schools. Leading up to, during, and following the season, it has been widely regarded as one of the most successful seasons in Big East Conference history, fielding multiple teams that received national recognition and achieved high levels of success.
Louisville won the outright championship with a 16-2 record. They were also champions of the Big East tournament.

Regular season

Season summary & highlights

The Big East set a record when it placed seven teams in the preseason Associated Press poll. It set another record by placing eight teams in the December 1st ranking, and broke that record when the ninth team entered the AP Top 25 on January 5. Connecticut and North Carolina were the only two teams that did not vacate the top 5 in the AP poll all season.
AP PollPreWk 1Wk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6Wk 7Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10Wk 11Wk 12Wk 13Wk 14Wk 15Wk 16Wk 17Wk 18
Cincinnati
Connecticut2222222254321112135
DePaul
Georgetown22222120191512119131225
Louisville333119919182320975576651
Marquette161515252424RVRV1814118810108132123
Notre Dame9887121287131219RVRV
Pittsburgh5643333311436441324
ProvidenceRVRV
Rutgers
St. John's
Seton HallRV
South Florida
SyracuseRVRVRV1613111713118815202324RV251813
Villanova23232017151818151823202117131210111011
West VirginiaRVRVRVRVRVRV25RVRVRVRVRVRVRVRVRVRV

Statistical leaders

Postseason

Big East Tournament

For the first time ever, all 16 teams in the conference would have the chance to participate in the Big East Tournament. Under this new format, the teams finishing 9 through 16 in the regular season standings played first round games, while teams 5 through 8 received a bye to the second round. The top 4 teams during the regular season received a bye to the quarterfinals. The five-round tournament spanned five consecutive days, from Tuesday, March 10, 2009, through Saturday, March 14, 2009. A low-seeded team could have theoretically played all five days if it won its games in the first four rounds, but this did not turn out to be the case.
1–4 Seeding:

Louisville, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Villanova

5–8 Seeding:

Marquette, Syracuse, West Virginia, Providence

9–16 Seeding and First Round Matchups:

DePaul def. Cincinnati

Notre Dame def. Rutgers

Seton Hall def. South Florida

St. John's def. Georgetown
Second Round Matchups:

Marquette def. St. John's

Syracuse def. Seton Hall

West Virginia def. Notre Dame

Providence def. DePaul
Quarterfinals Matchups:

Louisville def. Providence

West Virginia def. Pittsburgh

Syracuse def. Connecticut

Villanova def. Marquette
Semifinals Matchups:

Louisville def. Villanova

Syracuse def. West Virginia
Championship Game:

Louisville def. Syracuse, 76–66
The most notable game of the tournament was the third round matchup between Connecticut and Syracuse. A back-and-forth thriller between two rivals, this game lasted nearly four hours and finally ended after six overtimes, at 1:22 a.m. the following day. The game was tied at 71–71 with a second left in regulation, when Syracuse inbounded a pass the full length of the court. Guard, Eric Devendorf, sunk a 3-point shot as the clock appeared to run out, seemingly giving Syracuse the game. After a thorough review by officials using frame-by-frame slow motion, it became apparent that the ball was not completely off of Devendorf's fingertips as the clock changed from 0.1 to 0.0 seconds. The game headed to overtime. During overtime, UConn took a lead and maintained it, until Syracuse finally tied the score to force another overtime. This pattern continued for five overtimes, where in each one, UConn took and maintained a lead, only to have Syracuse tie the score before time ran out. In the sixth and final overtime, Syracuse came out and took a large lead that eventually proved insurmountable for UConn, and won the game, 127–117. The game produced a few records when it came to duration, including longest Big East game in history. A.J. Price of Connecticut, and Jonny Flynn and Eric Devendorf of Syracuse, each played over 60 minutes, with another three Connecticut players and one Syracuse player playing over 50 minutes. Between the two teams, nine players had double-figure point totals, and five UConn players had double-figure rebound totals. With over 100 points scored in the overtime periods alone, this game was dubbed an "Instant Classic" and was given the title "The Game That Wouldn't End."
In the following round, Syracuse again found itself in overtime, this time against West Virginia. Syracuse came out the winner, but would lose the following night to Louisville. This was Louisville's first Big East Tournament Championship. Jonny Flynn was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, becoming only the 4th player in the 30 year history of the tournament to win the award while playing on the losing team.

NCAA Tournament

The Big East posted a very strong showing in the NCAA Tournament. Though Notre Dame, Georgetown, and Providence were unable to secure at-large bids, seven conference teams were undisputedly deserving and were selected. The Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast Conference also sent seven teams each, which was one short of the record of eight that the Big East sent in 2006 and 2008. The conference set a record by earning three #1 seeds among the four available. Connecticut, Louisville, and Pittsburgh were all the top seeds in their regions, with North Carolina being the fourth. The conference set another record by having five teams make it to the Sweet-16, and then an additional record by having four teams make it to the Elite Eight. Connecticut and Villanova each advanced to the Final Four. This was Villanova's fourth Final Four appearance and first since 1985. This was UConn's third Final Four appearance, with all coming since 1999, and all happening to come from the West region. The conference finished with a combined record of 17–7.
SchoolRegionSeedRound 1Round 2Sweet 16Elite EightFinal Four
ConnecticutWest116 Chattanooga, W 103–479 Texas A&M, W 92–665 Purdue, W 72–603 Missouri, W 82–752 Michigan St., L 82–73
VillanovaEast314 American, W 80–676 UCLA, W 89–692 Duke, W 77–541 Pittsburgh, W 78–761 UNC, L 83–69
LouisvilleMidwest116 Morehead St., W 74–549 Siena, W 79–7212 Arizona, W 103–642 Michigan St., L 64–52-
PittsburghEast116 E. Tenn. St., W 72–628 Oklahoma St., W 84–764 Xavier, W 60–553 Villanova, L 78–76-
SyracuseSouth314 S.F. Austin, W 59–446 Arizona St., W 78–672 Oklahoma, L 84–71--
MarquetteWest611 Utah St., W 58–573 Missouri, L 83–79---
West VirginiaMidwest611 Dayton, L 68–60----

National Invitation Tournament

In the 72nd annual National Invitation Tournament, there were three Big East teams among the field of 32: Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Providence.
In the 16-team College Basketball Invitational, the lone Big East representative was St. John's. The team earned a 4-seed in the East region, and lost their opening round game to top-seeded Richmond 75–69.

Awards and honors

The following players were honored with postseason awards after having been voted for by Big East Conference coaches.
Co-Players of the Year:
Defensive Player of the Year:
Rookie of the Year:
Most Improved Player:
Sixth Man Award:
Sportsmanship Award:
Scholar-Athlete of the Year:
Coach of the Year:
All-Big East First Team:
All-Big East Second Team:
All-Big East Third Team:
Big East Honorable Mention:
Big East All-Rookie Team:
The following players were selected to the 2009 Associated Press All-America teams.

First Team All-America:
Second Team All-America:
Third Team All-America: