2003–04 Big East Conference men's basketball season

2003–04 Big East Conference Men's Basketball Season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
DurationNovember 13, 2003
through March 13, 2004
Number of teams14
TV partner(s)ESPN
Regular Season
ChampionPittsburgh (13–3)
Season MVPEmeka Okafor – Connecticut
Tournament
ChampionsConnecticut
Finals MVPBen Gordon – Connecticut
2003–04 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 Pittsburgh 13 – 3   .813 31 – 5   .861
No. 7 Connecticut † 12 – 4   .750 33 – 6   .846
No. 21 Providence 11 – 5   .688 20 – 9   .690
No. 20 Syracuse 11 – 5   .688 23 – 8   .742
No. 25 Boston College 10 – 6   .625 24 – 10   .706
Seton Hall 10 – 6   .625 21 – 12   .636
Notre Dame 9 – 7   .563 19 – 13   .594
Virginia Tech 7 – 9   .438 15 – 14   .517
Rutgers 7 – 9   .438 20 – 13   .606
West Virginia 7 – 9   .438 17 – 14   .548
Villanova 6 – 10   .375 18 – 17   .514
Georgetown 4 – 12   .250 13 – 15   .464
Miami (FL)* 4 – 12   .250 14 – 16   .467
St. John's*# 1 – 15   .063 2 – 21   .087
† 2004 Big East tournament winner
As of April 5, 2004[1]
Rankings from AP Poll
*Did not qualify for 2004 Big East tournament.
#St. John's had 4 regular-season games vacated due to sanctions against the program; the school′s disputed record was 1–15, 6–21.

The 2003–04 Big East Conference men's basketball season was the 25th in conference history, and involved its 14 full-time member schools.

Pittsburgh was the regular-season champion with a record of 13–3. Connecticut won both the Big East tournament championship and the national championship.

Season summary & highlights

  • After three seasons with a divisional structure, the Big East returned to a unitary structure this season.
  • Pittsburgh was the regular-season champion with a record of 13–3. It was Pittsburgh's fifth conference championship or co-championship and second outright championship.
  • Pittsburgh won its sixth Big East tournament championship.
  • Connecticut won its second national championship. It was the second consecutive national championship for the Big East Conference, Syracuse having won the previous season.
  • Connecticut junior guard Ben Gordon was the 2004 NCAA Tournament's top scorer.
  • Connecticut junior center Emeka Okafor was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2004 NCAA Tournament.
  • After suffering a 20-point loss at Pittsburgh on February 4, 2004, a number of St. John's players broke curfew to visit an adult club and invited a woman they met there back to their Pittsburgh hotel for sex. After they had sex with her, she demanded payment for it from them, and they refused. She then called police and claimed the players had gang-raped her, but police soon charged her with prostitution and filing a false police report. Meanwhile, St. John's University deemed the players' action to be in violation of team rules and "inconsistent with St. John's mission and values," and expelled or suspended six of them,[2] leaving the Red Storm with only four available scholarship players.[3] The scandal rocked the St. John's men's basketball program, and the team stumbled to a 6–21 finish.
  • In March 2004, St. John's center Abe Keita claimed that a member of the team's staff had paid him nearly $300 a month for the past four seasons. As a result, on November 26, 2004, St. John's placed itself on two years' probation, withdrew from postseason consideration for the 2004–05 season, and vacated 43 wins in which Keita participated, including the team's 2003 National Invitation Tournament championship. St. John's became the third team in the history of the NIT to be forced to vacate its standing in the tournament.[4]
  • The season was the last in the Big East for Miami and Virginia Tech, both of which departed for the Atlantic Coast Conference after the end of the season. Miami had been a member of the Big East for 13 seasons, and Virginia Tech left after four years in the Big East. Miami and Virginia Tech became the first schools ever to leave the Big East.

Head coaches

School Coach Season Notes
Boston College Al Skinner 7th
Connecticut Jim Calhoun 18th
Georgetown Craig Esherick 6th Fired March 16, 2004
Miami Perry Clark 4th
Notre Dame Mike Brey 4th
Pittsburgh Jamie Dixon 1st Big East Coach of the Year
Providence Tim Welsh 6th
Rutgers Gary Waters 3rd
St. John's Mike Jarvis 6th Fired December 19, 2003
Kevin Clark 1st Interim coach; replaced after season
Seton Hall Louis Orr 3rd
Syracuse Jim Boeheim 28th
Villanova Jay Wright 3rd
Virginia Tech Seth Greenberg 1st
West Virginia John Beilein 2nd

Rankings

Connecticut and Pittsburgh were ranked in the Associated Press poll Top 25 all season, with Connecticut reaching No. 1. Connecticut finished the season ranked No. 7 and Pittsburgh finished as No. 9. Boston College, Notre Dame, Providence, and Syracuse also spent time in the Top 25, and all but Notre Dame were ranked at the end of the season.

2003–04 Big East Conference Weekly Rankings
Key: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
AP Poll[5] Pre 11/24 12/1 12/8 12/15 12/22 12/31 1/5 1/12 1/19 1/26 2/2 2/9 2/16 2/23 3/4 3/8 Final
Boston College 25
Connecticut 1 1 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 4 6 5 5 8 8 7 9 7
Georgetown
Miami
Notre Dame 21 21 23
Pittsburgh 22 22 22 20 18 16 15 15 13 8 7 4 4 5 3 6 6 9
Providence 25 23 23 24 19 13 12 20 21
Rutgers
St. John's
Seton Hall
Syracuse 7 7 16 19 19 17 17 17 17 13 20 18 24 19 20
Villanova
Virginia Tech
West Virginia

Regular-season statistical leaders


Postseason

Big East tournament

Main article: 2004 Big East men's basketball tournament

Seeding

Teams were seeded in the Big East tournament based on conference record and tiebreakers. The No. 5 through No. 12 seeds played in the first round, and the No. 1 through No. 4 seeds received byes into the quarterfinal round. Teams which finished in 13th place or lower in the conference after the application as necessary of tiebreakers did not qualify for the tournament

Seeding was (1) Pittsburgh, (2) Providence, (3) Connecticut, (4) Syracuse, (5) Boston College, (6) Seton Hall, (7) Notre Dame, (8) Virginia Tech, (9) Rutgers, (10) West Virginia, (11) Villanova, and (12) Georgetown. Miami — which finished the regular season tied for 12th but lost its tiebreaker with Georgetown — and 14th-place St. John's did not qualify for the tournament.

Bracket

First round
Wednesday, March 10 		Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 11 		Semifinals
Friday, March 12 		Final
Saturday, March 13
            
1 #6 Pittsburgh 74
8 Virginia Tech 61
8 Virginia Tech 61
9 Rutgers 58
1 #6 Pittsburgh 62
5 Boston College 53
4 Syracuse 54
5 Boston College 57
5 Boston College 68
12 Georgetown 57
1 #6 Pittsburgh 58
2 #9 Connecticut 61
2 #9 Connecticut 66
7 Notre Dame 58
7 Notre Dame 65
10 West Virginia 64
2 #9 Connecticut 84
11 Villanova 67
3 #20 Providence 66
11 Villanova 69
6 Seton Hall 60
11 Villanova 61

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Six Big East teams received bids to the NCAA Tournament. Providence lost in the first round and Boston College and Seton Hall in the second round. Pittsburgh and Syracuse were defeated in the regional semifinals. Connecticut won the national championship. Connecticut junior guard Ben Gordon was the tournament's top scorer with 154 points, and Connecticut junior center Emeka Okafor was the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.

School Region Seed Round 1 Round 2 Sweet 16 Elite 8 Final Four Final
Connecticut Phoenix 2 15 Vermont, W 70–53 7 DePaul, W 72–55 6 Vanderbilt, W 73–53 8 Alabama, W 87–71 AT1 Duke, W 79–78 SL3 Georgia Tech, W 82–73
Pittsburgh East Rutherford 3 14 UCF, W 53–44 6 Wisconsin, W 59–55 2 Oklahoma State, L 63–51
Syracuse Phoenix 5 12 BYU, W 80–75 4 Maryland, W 72–70 8 Alabama, L 80–71
Boston College St. Louis 6 11 Milwaukee, W 58–51 3 Georgia Tech, L 57–54
Seton Hall Atlanta 8 9 Arizona, W 80–76 1 Duke, L 90–62
Providence St. Louis 5 12 Pacific, L 66–58

National Invitation Tournament

Main article: 2004 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. Notre Dame lost in the quarterfinals. Rutgers defeated West Virginia in the second round and Villanova in the quarterfinals and finished as the tournament runner-up, losing to Michigan in the final.

School Opening round Round 1 Round 2 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final
Rutgers Bye Temple, W 76–71 West Virginia, W 67–64 Villanova, W 72–60 Iowa State, W 84–81(OT) Michigan, L 62–55
Notre Dame Bye Purdue, W 71–59 Saint Louis, W 77–66 Oregon, L 65–61
Villanova Bye Drexel, W 85–70 Virginia, W 73–63 Rutgers, L 72–60
West Virginia Kent State, W 65–54 Rhode Island, W 79–72 Rutgers, L 67–64

Awards and honors

Big East Conference

Player of the Year:

Defensive Player of the Year:

  • Emeka Okafor, Connecticut, C, Jr.

Rookie of the Year:

Most Improved Player:

Coach of the Year:

All-Big East First Team

All-Big East Second Team:

All-Big East Third Team:

  • Chris Taft, Pittsburgh, F, Fr., 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), 260 lb (118 kg), Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Hervé Lamizana, Rutgers, F, Sr., 6 ft 10 in (208 cm), 215 lb (98 kg), Abidjan, Ivory Coast
  • Gerald Riley, Georgetown, G, Sr., 6 ft 6 in (198 cm), 217 lb (98 kg), Milledgeville, Ga.
  • Allan Ray, Villanova, G, So., 6 ft 2 in (188 cm), 190 lb (86 kg), The Bronx, N.Y.
  • Curtis Sumpter, Villanova, F, So., 6 ft 7 in (201 cm), 225 lb (102 kg), Brooklyn, N.Y.

Big East All-Rookie Team:

All-Americans

The following players were selected to the 2004 Associated Press All-America teams.

Main article: 2004 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

Consensus All-America First Team:

  • Ryan Gomes, Providence, Key Stats: 18.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.6 spg, 50.7 FG%, 33.3 3P%, 547 points
  • Emeka Okafor, Connecticut, Key Stats: 17.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 4.1 bpg, 59.9 FG%, 635 points

First Team All-America:

  • Ryan Gomes, Providence, Key Stats: 18.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.6 spg, 50.7 FG%, 33.3 3P%, 547 points
  • Emeka Okafor, Connecticut, Key Stats: 17.6 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 4.1 bpg, 59.9 FG%, 635 points

Third Team All-America:

  • Hakim Warrick, Syracuse, Key Stats: 19.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.1 bpg, 51.2 FG%, 615 points

AP Honorable Mention

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ " sports-reference.com. Retrieved 11-16-2013.
  2. ^ Rotstein, Gary; Lash, Cindi; Smith, Pohla (February 6, 2004). "Woman arrested, not men, in St. John's sex case". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  3. ^ Vaccaro, Mike (March 17, 2011). "St. John's reclaims glory after '04 sex scandal". New York Post. New York, New York. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  4. ^ Drape, Joe (November 27, 2004). "St. John's Imposes Penalty After Basketball Inquiry". New York Times. New York, New York. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  5. ^ "2003-04 Men's Big East Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved April 20, 2025.
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