1996 Big East Men 's Basketball Tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City . Its winner received the Big East Conference 's automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA Tournament . It is a single-elimination tournament with four rounds and the three highest seeds received byes in the first round . Connecticut , the Big East regular season winner , received the number one seed in the tournament . Connecticut defeated Georgetown , 75-74 to claim its second Big East Tournament championship
Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
1996 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament