The ECAC men's basketball tournaments are postseason

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

tournaments organized by the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from ...

(ECAC). Despite its name, the ECAC is not a traditional

athletic conference An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller Division (sport), divisions, with the best teams competing at successively ...

, but rather a loosely organized sports federation for colleges and universities in the northeastern

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. Among other things, it organizes end-of-season college basketball tournaments for member schools which are not members of a traditional conference, or which do not otherwise have access to such a tournament. At various times, it has organized end-of-season basketball tournaments at the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

(NCAA) Division I, Division II, and

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Third ...

levels.

Division I

From 1975 to 1981, the ECAC organized annual regional end-of-season men's basketball tournaments for independent Division I ECAC member colleges and universities in the

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States (also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. Located on the East Coast of the United States, ...

. The winner of each regional tournament was declared the ECAC regional champion for the season and received an automatic bid in the

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

.Varsity Pride: ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
Before 1975, the ECAC had not organized such tournaments for Division I schools; the NCAA tournament invited only one team per Division I conference and accommodated independents with a limited number of at-large bids. In 1975, however, the NCAA tournament's field expanded to 32 teams, including the champions of end-of-season conference tournaments, who received automatic bids. Although a number of at-large bids still existed, the process for selecting the field for the 1975 NCAA tournament included many second-place conference teams and threatened to exclude independent schools in the northeastern United States, which had no end-of-season conference tournament to play in and therefore no automatic bids. With no conventional athletic conferences yet in existence in the Northeast, the ECAC began to organize its Division I basketball tournaments in 1975, allowing Northeastern independents to retain their independent status while still having an opportunity to play in an end-of-season tournament offering an automatic bid. The ECAC Division I tournaments thus assured that at least some Northeastern colleges and universities would receive NCAA tournament bids.Varsity Pride: 1975 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
In both 1975 and 1976, the ECAC organized four regional Division I tournaments: Metro (for the

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area and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

);

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

; South (for

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

, and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

); and Upstate (for

Upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

). As Eastern independent colleges and universities began to join existing conferences or form new ones and play in their own end-of-season conference tournaments, the number of ECAC regional tournaments declined due to reduced demand for them. After the formation of the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (which later became the

Atlantic 10 Conference The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. The A-10's member schools are located most ...

), the ECAC combined its Southern and Upstate Regions into a single "Southern" (later "Upstate-Southern" and "South-Upstate") Region and held only three regional tournaments in 1977, 1978, and 1979. After the teams that played in the New England region all joined the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

, the Atlantic 10 Conference, or the new ECAC North Conference (which later became the

America East Conference The America East Conference (AmEast) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I whose members are located in the Northeastern United States. The conference is headquartered in Boston, Massachu ...

), the ECAC also did away with its New England tournament, and in 1980 and 1981 it held only two tournaments, Metro and Southern.Varsity Pride: 1976 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
Varsity Pride: 1981 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
/ref> After the conclusion of play in 1981, some of the teams in the Metro Region formed the

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Its current 13 full members are located in five Northeastern states: Connecticut, Maryland, Massachuse ...

(MAAC) and others formed the ECAC Metro Conference (which later became the

Northeast Conference The Northeast Conference (NEC) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools are members of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Teams in the NEC compete in Division I for all sports; football competes in the Division I Foo ...

), while the ECAC South Region teams formed the ECAC South Conference (which later became the Colonial Athletic Association and later still the

Coastal Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

). With all the former independents in the northeastern United States having joined a traditional conference holding its own end-of-season tournament, and with the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

providing a means of postseason tournament play for Division I teams not invited to the NCAA tournament, the ECAC had no reason to continue its Division I basketball tournament series, and it ceased to organize such tournaments after 1981.Varsity Pride: 1982 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
/ref>

1975 tournaments

''National rankings indicated.''

Regional champions

Sources

Brackets

Sources
Metro New England Southern Upstate

1976 tournaments

''National rankings indicated.''
Sources

Regional champions

Brackets

Metro New England Southern Upstate

1977 tournaments

''National rankings indicated.''

Regional champions

Sources

Brackets

Source
Metro Note: The Manhattan-St. Johns semifinal game was held at Rose Hill Gymnasium,

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. The Army-Seton Hall semifinal game took place at

Yanitelli Center The Victor R. Yanitelli, S.J. Recreational Life Center, known today as the Run Baby Run Arena, is a multipurpose college athletics, athletic facility on the campus of Saint Peter's University, a private, coeducational Jesuits, Jesuit university in ...

Jersey City, NJ Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

. New England The 1977 New England Tournaments semifinal games contrasted with one another greatly: Holy Cross, led by freshman

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

Ronnie Perry, played a hard, physical game – with 45

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

s in the second half, 24 by Holy Cross and 21 by

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

– to defeat Connecticut 89-77, while Providence, led by senior guard Joe Hassett, found its offense lacking and used tough defensive play to overcome Fairfield 44-31. The much-anticipated championship game that followed – a rematch of the December 1976 Colonial Classic final played at the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (later ...

, in which Holy Cross had handed Providence one of only three losses the Friars suffered all season on a game-winning last-second shot by the Crusaders Chris Potter – was played before a sold-out crowd at the

Hartford Civic Center Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 census. Hartford is the most populous city in the Capitol Planning Region and the core city of ...

and was one of the greatest games in the eight-season history of the ECAC Division I tournaments. With less than a minute to play and his team behind, Holy Crosss Michael Vicens stole the ball along his own end line and raced down the court to score on a reverse dunk. This energized both the crowd and the Holy Cross players and swung the games momentum in favor of Holy Cross. The Crusaders got the ball with less than 10 seconds to go, and Potter scored on an 18-foot (5.5-meter) jumper with five seconds remaining to again give Holy Cross a win, 68-67. Holy Cross thus won an automatic bid to the

1977 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1977 NCAA Division I basketball tournament involved 32 American schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the National Champion of Men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on Saturday, March 12, 1977, and ended with ...

and made its first appearance in that tournament since 1956. Providence also reached the NCAA tournament via an at-large bid. Southern Note: The St. Bonaventure-Syracuse semifinal game was held at

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. The Old Dominion-Georgetown semifinal game took place at

McDonough Gymnasium McDonough Gymnasium, sometimes referred to as McDonough Arena when hosting a sports or entertainment event, is a multi-purpose arena on the campus of Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Officially known as McDonough Memorial Gymnasium, it op ...

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

1978 tournaments

''National rankings indicated.''

Regional champions

SourcesVarsity Pride: 1978 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments

Brackets

Metro New England Upstate-Southern Note: The St. Bonaventure-Syracuse semifinal game was held at the

Rochester Community War Memorial Blue Cross Arena, also known as the War Memorial, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Rochester, New York. For hockey and lacrosse, its seating capacity is 10,662. The arena opened on October 18, 1955, as the Rochester Community War Memor ...

Rochester, NY Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

. The Virginia Commonwealth-Georgetown game took place at

1979 tournaments

''National rankings indicated.''

Regional champions

Sourcesports-reference.com 1978-79 Independent Season Summary
/ref>

Brackets

Sources
Metro New England South-Upstate Note: Syracuse-St. Bonaventure semifinal game was played at Rochester War Memorial,

. Georgetown-Old Dominion semifinal game was played in Cole Field House, College Park, MD.

1980 tournaments

Regional champions

SourceVarsity Pride: 1980 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournaments
/ref>

Brackets

Sources
Metro South

1981 tournaments

Regional champions

Source

Brackets

Sources
Metro South

Divisions II and III

Combined Division II/III tournaments

The ECAC organized combined Division II/Division III men's basketball tournaments annually from 1973 to 1980 as invitational events for ECAC teams not invited to the

NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division II men's basketball tournament (officially styled by the NCAA as a "Championship" instead of a "Tournament") is an annual championship tournament for colleges and universities that are members of NCAA Division II, a grouping of ...

or – after it began in 1975 – the

NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division III men's basketball tournament (officially styled as "Championship" instead of "Tournament") is a tournament to determine the NCAA Division III national champion. It has been held annually from 1975 to 2019 & since 2022, but no ...

. From 1973 through 1975 and from 1977 through 1980, it held four regional tournaments – Metro (for the

area and

, Southern (for schools south of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and New Jersey), and Upstate (for

) – each year, while in 1976 it held only three tournaments (Metro, New England, and Upstate). After 1980, the ECAC divided the Division II and Division III competitions, placing the Division II competitions on hiatus until 1988 and beginning Division III-only tournaments in 1981.

Division II tournaments

After 1980, the ECAC placed Division II end-of-season tournament competition on hiatus until 1988. From 1988 through 2005 it organized a single annual Division II men's basketball tournament as an invitational event for Division II ECAC teams not invited to that years

. No tournament took place in 2006, but the ECAC held it twice more, in 2007 and 2008. The Division II tournament again went on hiatus from 2009 through 2013, thanks to various factors including an expansion of the NCAA Men's Division II Tournament field and a decline in the number of Division II men's basketball programs associated with the ECAC. A Division II tournament took place in 2014, but the tournament again went on hiatus after that.

Division III tournaments

After its last combined Division II/III regional tournaments in 1980, the ECAC split Division II and Division III tournament competition. In 1981, it held its first Division III-only postseason regional invitational men's basketball tournaments for ECAC teams not invited to the

, and these have occurred annually ever since. The ECAC organized these tournaments regionally, holding Metro (for the

area and

, and Upstate (for

) tournaments from 1981 to 1985 and adding a Southern tournament (for schools south of

and New Jersey) in 1986. In 2013, the ECAC returned to a three-tournament structure, holding Metro, New England, and Southern regional tournaments, while in 2014 it had four tournaments (Metro, New England, Southeast, and Southwest).ecacsports.com 2014 ECAC Men's Basketball Tournament Central
/ref> In 2015 and 2016, it again had a three-tournament structure, with New England, Metro, and South tournaments.2014-15 ECAC Men's Basketball Championship Central
/ref> In 2017, it changed format again, becoming a single tournament which determined a single ECAC Division III champion. No tournament took place in 2021 because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, but the tournament resumed in 2022."Juniata Holds on to Win ECAC Men's Basketball Tourney," ecacsports.com, March 10, 2024.
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecac men's basketball tournament Annual sporting events in the United States History of college basketball in the United States Postseason college basketball competitions in the United States NCAA Division I men's basketball conference competitions Recurring sporting events established in 1973 Eastern College Athletic Conference