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On the heels of the announcement of the Gavitt Tipoff, series where the Big Ten and Big East Conference will match up during the first full week of each season from 2015 through 2022, the B1G is expected to announce that the 2017 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament will be hosted at the Verizon Center in Washington DC.
The Tournament, which has rotated between Chicago and Indianapolis, is being moved Eastbound and down to matchup with the addition of Maryland and Rutgers to the Big Ten Conference starting July 1st, 2014.
This accompanies the Big Ten's announcement of opening a office in New York City, along with their partnership with the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium in NYC for a period of eight years.
Big Ten Commish Jim Delany, the man of Jon's dreams, had this to say about the Big Ten footprint he wants in the Northeast:
"We don't just want to visit here, we want to live here.........This was our first opportunity to do that. We think it's a wonderful opportunity for not just Maryland, but for expatriate Big Ten fans living on the East Coast to see great basketball in March."
No word yet if Sioux City and/or Omaha will get a crack at hosting the B1G Tourney after 2017.
As far as the Gavitt Tipoff is concerned, it's unclear whether Nebraska's in-state rivalry with Creighton will be moved to accommodate the series, or if Nebraska will be booked with any other teams in the Big East.