The 1986 Big East Men's Basketball Tournament took place at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from March 5 to March 8, 1986. Its winner received the Big East Conference's automatic bid to the 1986 NCAA Tournament. It is a single-elimination tournament with four rounds. St. John's had the best regular season conference record and received the #1 seed. St. John's defeated Syracuse in the championship game 70–69, to claim its second Big East Tournament championship.