NEW YORK – The Big Ten and BIG EAST Conferences have announced the matchups for the second annual Gavitt Tipoff Games, with eight men’s basketball contests set for Nov. 14-18, 2016. Game times and television assignments will be announced at a later date.
The Gavitt Tipoff Games is a unique early-season series played between the two conferences and named in honor of Dave Gavitt, founder of the BIG EAST and basketball visionary. The BIG EAST home games will be telecast on FS1, while Big Ten home games will air on BTN or an ESPN network.
The annual series features battles between local foes and attractive intersectional matchups. Eight teams in this year’s event advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season. The eight NCAA teams are: Villanova, Purdue, Maryland, Wisconsin, Butler, Providence, Seton Hall and Iowa. Creighton and Ohio State played in the NIT.
The 2016 Gavitt Tipoff Games schedule begins with NCAA Tournament champion Villanova traveling to Purdue on Monday, Nov. 14.
There is one rematch from last year, as Maryland plays at Georgetown on Nov. 15. Also on Tuesday, Wisconsin travels to Creighton. Northwestern at Butler is the lone game on Wednesday’s schedule. Thursday’s schedule includes three games: Seton Hall at Iowa, Providence at Ohio State and Rutgers at DePaul.
The Gavitt Tipoff Games schedule ends on Nov. 18 with St. John’s playing at Minnesota.
The 2016 Gavitt Tipoff Games schedule:
Monday, Nov. 14
Villanova at Purdue
Tuesday, Nov. 15
Maryland at Georgetown
Wisconsin at Creighton
Wednesday, Nov. 16
Northwestern at Butler
Thursday, Nov. 17
Seton Hall at Iowa
Providence at Ohio State
Rutgers at DePaul
Friday, Nov. 18
St. John’s at Minnesota
Scheduled through 2022, the Gavitt Tipoff Games will be played on consecutive days in the first full week of the college basketball season. The series will span eight years, with games played at home sites. Each BIG EAST team will participate a minimum of six times, while Big Ten programs will take part a minimum of four times. Teams from both conferences already meet in some traditional rivalry games, and those matchups will continue in the upcoming seasons.
The unique series between the two conferences is named to honor the late Gavitt, who had a profound and lasting influence on the sport of basketball on the collegiate, professional and Olympic levels. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.