Future Gavitt Games Possibly In Limbo After 2023

In 2015 the Big Ten and Big East came together to start the Gavitt Tipoff Games. The annual event pairs eight Big Ten and eight Big East schools in an event similar to the old Big Ten / ACC Challenge. Unfortunately the future of the event is starting to look like it might be in limbo.

The news this week is a break from what Jon Rothstein previously reported just two weeks ago. In that writeup Rothstein reported that the details for 2024-25 were almost finalized, with 11 Big East schools set to participate instead of just eight. While things seemed to be progressing, they recently came to a halt this week.

Per Rothstein, the two sides still plan to come together at least once more to try to iron things out but that it seems less likely for the event to go forward after this season. The Big Ten’s addition of four PAC-12 schools has created some questions on how they’ll handle future scheduling, making the odds of the conference continuing the Gavitt Games less likely.

The Big Ten already lost the Big Ten / ACC Challenge due to shifting media deals. It’ll be curious to see if the league tries to find another conference to work with if their current setup with the Big East ends after this season. The Big East already has another event with the Big East - Big 12 Battle.