1998–99 Big East Conference men's basketball season

1998–99 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationNovember 10, 1998
through March 6, 1999
Number of teams13
TV partner(s)ESPN
Regular Season
ChampionConnecticut 16–2)
Season MVP
Tournament
ChampionsConnecticut
Finals MVPKevin Freeman – Connecticut
1998–99 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Connecticut† 16 – 2   .889 34 – 2   .944
No. 10 Miami (FL) 15 – 3   .833 23 – 7   .767
No. 9 St. John's 14 – 4   .778 28 – 9   .757
Syracuse 10 – 8   .556 21 – 12   .636
Villanova 10 – 8   .556 21 – 11   .656
Rutgers 9 – 9   .500 19 – 13   .594
Providence 9 – 9   .500 16 – 14   .533
Notre Dame 8 – 10   .444 14 – 16   .467
Seton Hall 8 – 10   .444 15 – 15   .500
Georgetown 6 – 12   .333 15 – 16   .484
Pittsburgh 5 – 13   .278 14 – 16   .467
West Virginia 4 – 14   .222 10 – 19   .345
Boston College 3 – 15   .167 6 – 21   .222
† 1999 Big East tournament winner
As of March 29, 1999[1]
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998–99 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 20th in conference history, and involved its 13 full-time member schools.

Connecticut was the regular-season champion with a record of 16–2. Connecticut also won the Big East tournament championship.

Season summary & highlights

  • After using a two-division structure the three previous seasons, the Big East returned to a unitary structure this season.
  • Connecticut was the regular-season champion with a record of 16–2. It was Connecticut's sixth regular-season championship or co-championship and third outright championship.
  • Connecticut won its fourth Big East tournament championship.
  • Connecticut made the first Final Four appearance in school history.
  • Connecticut won its first national championship.
  • Connecticut junior guard Richard Hamilton was both the top scorer and the Most Outstanding Player of the 1999 NCAA Tournament.

Head coaches

School Coach Season Notes
Boston College Al Skinner 2nd
Connecticut Jim Calhoun 13th
Georgetown John Thompson, Jr. 27th Resigned and retired January 8, 1999
Craig Esherick 1st Replaced Thompson January 8, 1999
Miami Leonard Hamilton 9th Big East Coach of the Year (2nd award)
Notre Dame John MacLeod 8th Resigned March 9, 1999
Pittsburgh Ralph Willard 5th Resigned March 3, 1999
Providence Tim Welsh 1st
Rutgers Kevin Bannon 2nd
St. John's Mike Jarvis 1st
Seton Hall Tommy Amaker 2nd
Syracuse Jim Boeheim 23rd
Villanova Steve Lappas 7th
West Virginia Gale Catlett 21st

Rankings

Connecticut was ranked No. 1 or No.2 in the Associated Press poll for most of the season, never ranking below No.4 and finishing at No. 3. St. John's and Syracuse were in the Top 25 for most of the season, and Miami and Pittsburgh also spent time in the Top 25.

1998–99 Big East Conference Weekly Rankings
Key: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
AP Poll[2] Pre 11/16 11/23 11/30 12/7 12/14 12/21 12/28 1/4 1/11 1/18 1/25 2/1 2/8 2/15 2/22 3/1 Final
Boston College
Connecticut 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 4 3 3
Georgetown
Miami 25 23 25 16 15 11 9 10
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh 20 20 22 24 23
Providence
Rutgers
St. John's 23 25 18 15 14 12 10 11 8 9 9 11 10 8 10 9
Seton Hall
Syracuse 20 22 19 12 13 21 22 22 20 18 20 17 16 18 21 24
Villanova
West Virginia

Regular-season statistical leaders


Postseason

Big East tournament

Main article: 1999 Big East men's basketball tournament

Seeding

Seeding in the Big East tournament was based on conference record, with tiebreakers applied as necessary. Teams seeded fourth through thirteenth played a first-round game, and the other three teams received a bye into the second round.

The tournament's seeding was as follows: (1) Connecticut, (2) Miami, (3) St. John's, (4) Syracuse, (5) Villanova, (6) Rutgers, (7) Providence, (8) Notre Dame, (9) Seton Hall, (10) Georgetown, (11) Pittsburgh, (12) West Virginia, (13) Boston College.

Bracket

First round
March 4, 1998 		Quarterfinals
March 5, 1998 		Semifinals
March 6, 1998 		Championship Game
March 7, 1998
            
1 #6 Connecticut 64
8 Providence 55
8 Providence 72
9 Notre Dame 55
1 #6 Connecticut 64
12 Rutgers 50
5 #23 West Virginia 65
12 Rutgers 72
12 Rutgers 61
13 Georgetown 60
4 Miami 56
13 Georgetown 62
1 #6 Connecticut 69
2 #22 Syracuse 64
3 St. John's 91
11 Boston College 80
6 Seton Hall 87
11 Boston College 97OT
3 St. John's 67
2 #22 Syracuse 69OT
2 #22 Syracuse 69
7 Villanova 66
7 Villanova 962OT
10 Pittsburgh 93

NCAA tournament

Main article: 1999 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Five Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse and Villanova lost in the first round, Miami in the second round, and St. John's in the regional finals. Connecticut won the national championship. Connecticut junior guard Richard Hamilton scored 145 points during the tournament and was both its top scorer and Most Outstanding Player.

Ohio State, which defeated St. John's and lost to Connecticut, vacated 34 games, including all NCAA Tournament wins from the 1998–99 season, due to the Jim O’Brien scandal.[3][4]

School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8 Final 4 Final
Connecticut East 1 16 UTSA, W 91–66 9 New Mexico, W 78–56 5 Iowa, W 78–68 10 Gonzaga, W 67–62 S4 Ohio State, W 64–58 E1 Duke, W 77–74
St. John's South 3 14 Samford, W 69–43 6 Indiana, W 86–61 2 Maryland, W 76–62 4 Ohio State, L 77–74
Miami East 2 15 Lafayette, W 75–54 10 Purdue, L 73–63
Syracuse South 8 9 Oklahoma State, L 69–61
Villanova Midwest 8 9 Ole Miss, L 72–70

National Invitation Tournament

Main article: 1999 National Invitation Tournament

Four Big East teams received bids to the National Invitation Tournament, which did not yet have seeding. They played in two of the tournament's four unnamed brackets. Georgetown, Providence, and Seton Hall all lost in the first round and Rutgers in the second round.

School Round 1 Round 2
Rutgers Hofstra, W 58–45 Clemson, L 78–68
Georgetown Princeton, L 54–47
Providence NC State, L 92–86
Seton Hall Old Dominion, L 75–56

Awards and honors

Big East Conference

Co-Players of the Year:

Defensive Player of the Year:

Rookie of the Year:

Most Improved Player:

  • Johnny Hemsley, Miami, G Jr.

Coach of the Year:

All-Big East First Team

All-Big East Second Team:

All-Big East Third Team:

Big East All-Rookie Team:

  • Anthony Perry, Georgetown, G, Fr., 6 ft 3 in (191 cm), 186 lb (84 kg), Jersey City, N.J.
  • Kevin Braswell, Georgetown, G, Fr., 6 ft 2 in (188 cm), 190 lb (86 kg), Baltimore, Md.
  • Troy Murphy, Notre Dame, F, Fr., 6 ft 11 in (211 cm), 245 lb (111 kg), Morristown, N.J.
  • Dahntay Jones, Rutgers, F, Fr., 6 ft 6 in (198 cm), 210 lb (95 kg), Trenton, N.J.
  • Erick Barkley, St. John's, G, Fr., 6 ft 1 in (185 cm), 177 lb (80 kg), Queens, N.Y.

All-Americans

The following players were selected to the 1999 Associated Press All-America teams.

Main article: 1999 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus All-America First Team:

  • Richard Hamilton, Connecticut, Key Stats: 21.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.2 spg, 44.3 FG%, 34.7 3P%, 732 points

First Team All-America:

  • Richard Hamilton, Connecticut, Key Stats: 21.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.7 apg, 1.2 spg, 44.3 FG%, 34.7 3P%, 732 points

Third Team All-America:

  • Tim James, Miami, Key Stats: 18.6 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 1.3 spg, 2.2 bpg, 47.7 FG%, 29.3 3P%, 557 points

AP Honorable Mention

See also

References

  1. ^ "1998-99 Big East Conference Season Summary". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  2. ^ "1998-99 Men's Big East Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved April 14, 2025.
  3. ^ "OSU gets probation". ESPN.com. March 10, 2006. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  4. ^ "Forfeits and Vacated Games". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 30, 2024.
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