Despite six schools leaving the Big East for the ACC, the Big East will not lose Madison Square Garden, the home of its men's basketball tournament, to the ACC anytime soon.
The deadline to bid for the 2016-21 ACC's men's basketball tournaments has passed, and Madison Square Garden did not submit a bid, sources told ESPN. The 2013-15 ACC men's basketball tournaments will be held in Greensboro, N.C.
A decision for where the 2016-21 ACC tournaments will be held will be made in the coming months. The Barclays Center in Brooklyn also did not submit a bid.
Big East and Madison Square Garden officials also are continuing discussions about extending the Big East's current deal with the Garden, sources told ESPN. The Big East's current deal with MSG runs through 2016. The length of the extension being discussed is 10 years, which would lock up the Garden through 2026, the New York Post reported.
Since 1983, Madison Square Garden has hosted the Big East men's tournament. However, when Pittsburgh and Syracuse announced last year that they were leaving the Big East, ACC commissioner John Swofford discussed the possibility of the ACC playing its basketball tournament in the Garden.
"I don't think there's any question that taking a look at New York and Madison Square Garden would be very appealing for Atlantic Coast Conference basketball fans," Swofford said last year. "And even more so now with even more teams in closer proximity. With that being the media center of the world, so to speak, we'd probably be remiss if we didn't think of it in those terms."
In the past nine years, six schools have left the Big East for the ACC or given notice that they were leaving for the ACC: Virginia Tech, Boston College, Miami, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and Notre Dame.
Brett McMurphy covers college sports for ESPN.