Big East beats Power Five on conference tourney attendance
NEW YORK (AP) The Big East ended up with a big week at Madison Square Garden.
The conference averaged 18,790 fans at the arena for the duration of its conference tournament last week, filling the Garden to nearly 95 percent capacity. Those figures were better than any of the Power Five conference tournaments, even with two others held in New York - including the Big Ten the previous week at MSG.
The closest was the Big 12, which averaged 17,850 fans, filling 94 percent of Sprint Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, during its tournament.
The figures are welcome for a conference without football that often finds itself jockeying for position with the more powerful leagues. The Big Ten moved its conference tournament a week earlier to get a foothold in the lucrative, hoops-loving New York market, while the ACC held its tournament in Brooklyn.
The numbers also boost a conference that had the highest TV ratings for its tournament since the league's realignment in 2014. The Big East has six teams and two No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament - Villanova and Xavier - though fewer total bids than the ACC, SEC and Big 12.
Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman said the success is welcome considering the uncertainty surrounding the league when it was formed.
''There was confidence, but who could know? The presidents of our schools - the seven in particular that came from the old Big East - really they had to take a leap,'' Ackerman said.
The Big East sold out the Garden three times in five sessions, while the Big Ten had one sellout in seven sessions and averaged nearly 15,200 fans.
''All the alums come in here for the Big East Tournament, and when their teams leave, half of them stay and watch great college basketball,'' Villanova coach Jay Wright said during the conference tournament. ''I just think that being authentic has really paid off for us. I tell you honestly, I didn't think it was going to happen, but I'm excited about it.''
The additional tournaments in New York have fueled questions in hoops circles about whether the Big East Tournament will be able to stay put. Ackerman says she hopes it can.
''We have a lot of identity wrapped up in this place. We want to be here for as long as we can,'' she said. ''And I'm optimistic it can happen.''
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