2006 Big East men's basketball tournament

2006 Big East men's basketball tournament
ClassificationDivision I
Season2005–06
Teams12
SiteMadison Square Garden
New York City
ChampionsSyracuse (5th title)
Winning coachJim Boeheim (5th title)
MVPGerry McNamara (Syracuse)
Top scorerGerry McNamara (Syracuse)
(65 points)
2005–06 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 2 Connecticut 14 2   .875 30 4   .882
No. 3 Villanova 14 2   .875 28 5   .848
No. 22 West Virginia 11 5   .688 22 11   .667
Marquette 10 6   .625 20 11   .645
No. 23 Georgetown 10 6   .625 23 10   .697
No. 16 Pittsburgh 10 6   .625 25 8   .758
Seton Hall 9 7   .563 18 12   .600
Cincinnati 8 8   .500 21 13   .618
Rutgers 7 9   .438 19 14   .576
Louisville 6 10   .375 21 13   .618
Notre Dame 6 10   .375 16 14   .533
DePaul* 5 11   .313 12 15   .444
Providence* 5 11   .313 12 15   .444
St. John's* 5 11   .313 12 15   .444
South Florida* 1 15   .063 7 22   .241
No. 21 Syracuse†# 0 9   .000 0 12   .000
2006 Big East tournament winner
As of April 3, 2006
Rankings from AP Poll
*Did not qualify for 2006 Big East tournament.
#Syracuse had all its wins vacated due to sanctions against the program; Syracuse′s disputed record was 23–12, 7–9.

The 2006 Big East Men's Basketball Championship was played from March 8 to March 11, 2006. The tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was a single-elimination tournament with four rounds. Villanova and Connecticut tied for the best regular season conference record. Based on tie-breakers, Connecticut was awarded the #1 seed.
The Syracuse Orange won the tournament for the second consecutive season and fifth time overall, and were awarded an automatic bid to the 2006 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. As a 9-seed, the Orange are the lowest seeded team to win the Big East tournament, and became the first school to win four games in the tournament. Gerry McNamara of Syracuse was given the Dave Gavitt Trophy, awarded to the tournament's most outstanding player.

Due to NCAA sanctions for the use of ineligible players, all of Syracuse's wins from the 2005–06 season, including its four Big East tournament wins, later were vacated.