1979 Eastern 8 men's basketball tournament

The 1979 Eastern 8 men's basketball tournament was held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the Civic Arena from February 27 to March 3, 1979 (First Round games were held at campus sites).

1979 Eastern 8 men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1978–79
Teams	8
Site	Civic Arena Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Champions	Rutgers (1st title)
Winning coach	Tom Young (1st title)
MVP	James Bailey (Rutgers)
Eastern 8 men's basketball tournaments

1978–79 Eastern 8 men's basketball standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Villanova	9	–	1		.900			13	–	13		.500
No. 18 Rutgers †	7	–	3		.700			22	–	9		.710
West Virginia	7	–	3		.700			16	–	12		.571
Pittsburgh	6	–	4		.600			18	–	11		.621
George Washington	5	–	5		.500			13	–	14		.481
Penn State	4	–	6		.400			12	–	18		.400
Duquesne	2	–	8		.200			13	–	13		.500
UMass	0	–	10		.000			5	–	22		.185
† 1979 Eastern 8 Tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

Rutgers defeated Pittsburgh 61-57 in the final.

Bracket

	First round February 27, 1979					Semi-Finals March 1, 1979					Finals March 3, 1979
	1	Villanova	78*
	8	Massachusetts	73
						1	Villanova	64
						4	Pittsburgh	77
	4	Pittsburgh	85
	5	George Washington	80
											4	Pittsburgh	57
											3	Rutgers	61
	2	West Virginia	73
	7	Duquesne	59
						2	West Virginia	52
						3	Rutgers	55
	3	Rutgers	67
	6	Penn State	57

Final standings

Villanova	9 1	15 13
West Virginia	7 3	16 12
Rutgers	7 3	22 9
Pittsburgh	6 4	18 11
George Washington	5 5	13 14
Penn State	4 6	12 18
Duquesne	2 8	13 13
Massachusetts	0 10	5 22
Overall Non-Conference Record 74-72