Conference call

Big East in a league of its own

The shining moment in Big East history had just ended and Dave Gavitt and Mike Tranghese, the heart and soul of the conference, were leaving Lexington, Ky., in the spring of 1985, following an improbable Final Four in which Villanova had not only come up with the near-perfect game in the second half to defeat mighty Georgetown for the national championship, but a third Big East team had joined the Final Four party.

"We'll never see anything like this again," said Tranghese, who was then the assistant to Gavitt, the Big East commissioner and founder.

Tranghese, who will retire as Big East commissioner in a few months, recalled the moment yesterday with a laugh as he talked about the possibilities and excitement of the next few days. "We've got a chance," he said when asked about a Final Four of Big East teams. "We've still got a long way to go, and it would be tough, but we have a chance."

The chances were on display Thursday night at TD Banknorth Garden, where No. 1 seed Pittsburgh and No. 3 seed Villanova won their NCAA East Regional semifinal games, guaranteeing the Big East one Final Four slot. Connecticut, the No. 1 seed in the West, can lock up a second slot if it beats Missouri today in the regional final in Glendale, Ariz.

Last night, Louisville did its part by hammering Arizona. Syracuse was ousted by Oklahoma, but a repeat of '85 was still possible.

Tranghese, who stayed home to monitor his conference's teams rather than limit himself to one place, said another Big East team, Marquette, also had Final Four credentials. "After seeing what Missouri did to Memphis, it makes you realize how good Marquette was," he said of the Golden Eagles, who lost to Missouri, 83-79, in the second round. "It has just been a special year."

That it has. But how did it happen? How did the Big East get to be arguably the best conference in the land?

Seven Big East teams - UConn, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Villanova, Marquette, West Virginia, and Syracuse - made the NCAA Tournament field. Two other teams ranked in the top 10 early in the season - Georgetown and Notre Dame - didn't make the 65-team field after being chewed up in conference play.

Before the NCAA Tournament, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said no team the Mountaineers faced in the tournament would be tougher than what they had faced in the Big East tournament.

Although the Mountaineers were defeated by Dayton in the first round, Huggins's point seems valid: Playing in the intense atmosphere of the Big East toughens teams. "There is a philosophy that we beat each other up," said Huggins. "And there's the philosophy that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Coach Jamie Dixon, who is hoping to take Pittsburgh to its first Final Four since 1941, saw the conference's potential last spring, when he looked at rosters filled with veterans. "I said looking at the teams coming back, the players coming back, I said this thing had the potential of being the best conference in the history of college basketball."

Dixon conceded the inner circle of Big East supporters can get hyperbolic. "Sometimes we tend to overexaggerate and inflate some things that never really seem to come to fruition," said Dixon. "But if anything has lived up to it, it would be this conference and what has happened this year."

Tranghese says the person who has enjoyed this season - and the last few weeks - the most is Gavitt, who is dealing with health issues that have made him a spectator at home. "Dave has really loved this, watching all of this happen," said Tranghese.

So has Tranghese, who has been part of the Big East since the day it was formed in 1979. He does not hide his satisfaction, especially in his final few months before retirement.

"I thought this league would be special at the start of this season for a variety of reasons," he said. "We had good coaches and good players coming back with a lot of experience. It has all fit in nicely. We still have some games to play. But I'm going to enjoy it."

Mark Blaudschun can be reached at blaudschun@globe.com.