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Big East Conference (1979–2013)

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Big East Conference
File:Big East Conference.svg
AssociationNCAA
CommissionerJohn Marinatto (since 2009)
Sports fielded
  • 24
    • men's: 11
    • women's: 13
DivisionDivision I
SubdivisionFBS
RegionEastern United States
Official websitehttp://www.bigeast.org/
Locations
Location of teams in {{{title}}}

The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members (16 full-time and 1 associate member) participate in 24 NCAA sports. Eight of the seventeen conference schools are football members and the Big East competes as a BCS conference in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the top level of NCAA competition in that sport (also known by its former designation: Division I-A). Three members have football programs but are not Big East football schools: Georgetown and Villanova compete in the Football Championship Subdivision and Notre Dame plays as an FBS independent. The other five schools — Seton Hall, St. John's, DePaul, Marquette, and Providence — discontinued their football programs.

The Big East has had all eight members play in bowl games since 2005 realignment and has had seven of eight teams ranked in the Top 25 since 2003. In that time, the Big East has seen the emergence of new national players West Virginia rising to as high as No. 1 and was ranked in the Top 10 for three-straight years (2005, 2006, 2007) (South Florida rising as high as #2, Louisville as high as #3, Rutgers as high as #7, Pittsburgh as high as #9, Connecticut as high as #13 and University of Cincinnati as high as #3 in BCS standings). Also, Big East football has seen an increase in attendance and is enjoying a new, $250 million plus television package that lasts through 2013.[1][2]

In basketball, Big East teams account for 40 Final Four appearances and 10 NCAA Championships, numbers only surpassed by the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten Conference (Big Ten) and Pac-10 Conference.[citation needed] Of the Big East's 16 full members, all but South Florida have been to the Final Four, the most of any conference,[3] though Louisville, Marquette, DePaul, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh made all their trips before joining the Big East. In 2006, the Big East set the record for the most teams sent to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship by a single conference with eight and repeated the feat two years later.[4]

History

The Big East was founded in 1979 when Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, and Syracuse invited Seton Hall, Rutgers, Connecticut, Holy Cross, and Boston College to form a conference primarily focused on basketball, with Rutgers and Holy Cross declining to join.[5] Villanova joined a year later in 1980 and Pittsburgh joined in 1982. In 1985, Penn State applied for membership, but was rejected, with only five schools in favor (Penn State needed six out of eight). It was long rumored that Syracuse cast the deciding vote against Penn State, but Mike Tranghese confirmed that this was not the case and that Syracuse had, in fact, voted for Penn State's inclusion.[6]

About a decade after the conference's inception, Big East members decided to become a major football conference and thus added five schools including four-time champion Miami, Temple, Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Rutgers. Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference. The inaugural Big East football season launched in 1991.[7][8] West Virginia and Rutgers were football-only members until 1995, Virginia Tech was a football-only member until 2001, with Temple remaining a football-only member until 2004, after failing to attract enough consistent fan support. The Big East offered Notre Dame a non-football membership effective 1995. This led to an unusual conference structure with some schools competing in Division I basketball only.

Big East sports offered
  • Baseball
  • Men's basketball
  • Women's basketball
  • Men's cross country
  • Women's cross country
  • Field hockey
  • Football
  • Men's golf
  • Women's golf
  • Men's lacrosse
  • Women's lacrosse
  • Women's rowing
  • Men's soccer
  • Women's soccer
  • Softball
  • Men's swimming & diving
  • Women's swimming & diving
  • Men's tennis
  • Women's tennis
  • Men's indoor track & field
  • Men's outdoor track & field
  • Women's indoor track & field
  • Women's outdoor track & field
  • Women's volleyball

This had long led to rumors of instability, and in 2003, ongoing press reports of tensions between the football schools and the basketball schools finally exploded into a months-long public tug-of-war between the Big East and the Atlantic Coast Conference over several Big East members. The end result was that three Big East schools — Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College — moved to the ACC, while five teams moved to the Big East from Conference USA — Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida, Marquette, and DePaul. For more details on this topic, see 2005 NCAA football realignment.

The addition of the three football schools, along with Big East non-football member Connecticut moving up to the Big East football conference, ensured that the league would keep the minimum eight teams needed to keep its BCS bid. In addition two traditional basketball teams, DePaul and Marquette, were added to gain the Chicago and Milwaukee television markets and help the already solid basketball status of the conference.[citation needed]

Currently, the Big East represents the majority of the large, athletically competitive private Catholic schools, while public schools UConn, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Rutgers, South Florida, West Virginia and Cincinnati are located in areas with large Catholic communities.[citation needed] Five of the founding seven schools are Catholic schools — Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, Seton Hall, and Boston College.

In January 2006, Loyola University Maryland (then Loyola College in Maryland) joined as an associate member in the sport of women's lacrosse.

Big East schools compete in Division I in basketball and Olympic sports. Football members of the conference participate in Division I FBS. Notre Dame remains an FBS independent, while Georgetown and Villanova have Division I FCS (formerly I-AA) football programs. Georgetown football competes in the Patriot League. Villanova competed in the Atlantic 10 through the 2006 season, but along with all other members of the A-10 football conference joined the new football conference launched by the Colonial Athletic Association in 2007. In September 2010, in the wake of a Division I realignment that affected a number of conferences around the country, the Big East extended an invitation to Villanova to become a football member. The school is currently considering the offer, which would require the school to substantially expand its entire athletic program, as well as expand its stadium to meet FBS requirements or find another suitable venue in the Philadelphia area.[9]

The eight schools that play football in the conference are all state-supported (or in the case of Pittsburgh, state-related) with the exception of Syracuse (a private but secular institution), whereas the eight schools that do not play football in the conference are all affiliated with the Catholic Church.

Beginning in 2010, the Big East sponsored a men's lacrosse league with Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Syracuse and Villanova participating.[10]

Texas Christian University will join the conference as an all-sports member beginning in the 2012–2013 academic year.[11]

Commissioners

Mike Tranghese retired at the end of the 2008–09 academic year, which he announced in June 2008, and was replaced by former senior associate commissioner John Marinatto.[12][13]

Members

The full member institutions of the Big East are:

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Undergraduate Enrollment Football
Member 		Year
Joined 		Nickname Endowment
CincinnatiUniversity of Cincinnati[14] Cincinnati, Ohio 1819 Public 29,824 Yes 2005 Bearcats $832,924,000
ConnecticutUniversity of Connecticut[15] Storrs, Connecticut 1881 Public 20,846 Yes 1979 Huskies $254,684,000
DePaul University Chicago, Illinois 1898 Private 16,199 No 2005 Blue Demons $245,574,000
Georgetown University Washington, D.C. 1789 Private 7,092 No* 1979 Hoyas $1,000,000,000
LouisvilleUniversity of Louisville[16] Louisville, Kentucky 1798 Public 15,125 Yes 2005 Cardinals $599,712,000
Marquette University Milwaukee, Wisconsin 1881 Private 8,012 No 2005 Golden Eagles $285,500,000
Notre DameUniversity of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana 1842 Private 8,371 No* 1995 Fighting Irish $4,795,303,000
PittsburghUniversity of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 1787 Public 17,427 Yes 1982 Panthers $1,837,216,000
Providence College Providence, Rhode Island 1917 Private 3,850 No 1979 Friars $122,110,000
Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Jersey 1766 Public 28,031 Yes 1991 Scarlet Knights $544,992,000
Saint John's UniversitySt. John's University Queens, New York 1870 Private 14,983 No 1979 Red Storm $267,650,000
Seton Hall University South Orange, New Jersey 1856 Private 5,245 No 1979 Pirates $203,000,000
South FloridaUniversity of South Florida Tampa, Florida 1956 Public 36,358 Yes 2005 Bulls $275,398,000
Syracuse University Syracuse, New York 1870 Private 13,736 Yes 1979 Orange $753,008,138
Villanova University Villanova, Pennsylvania 1842 Private 6,335 No* 1980 Wildcats $266,701,000
West Virginia University[17] Morgantown, West Virginia 1867 Public 22,303 Yes 1991 Mountaineers $315,121,000

* Denotes schools that sponsor football programs outside the Big East Conference (see above)

Locations of current Big East Conference full member institutions.

Associate members

Institution Location Conference Affiliation Enrollment Nickname Sport Endowment
Loyola University Maryland Baltimore, Maryland MAAC Private 3,500 Greyhounds Women's lacrosse $143,000,000

Future members

Institution Location Founded Affiliation Undergraduate Enrollment Football
Member 		Year
Joining 		Nickname Endowment
Texas Christian UniversityTexas Christian University Fort Worth, Texas 1873 Private 8,799 Yes 2012 Horned Frogs $974,700,000

Former members

Institution Affiliation Years Current Conference
Boston College Full member 1979–2005 ACC
Temple University Football only 1991–2004 A-10, MAC (football)
University of Miami Full member 1991–2004 ACC
Virginia Tech Full member 1991–2004 ACC

Membership timeline

Football members in blue. Non-football members in powder blue.

Texas Christian UniversityUniversity of South FloridaMarquette UniversityUniversity of LouisvilleDePaul UniversityUniversity of CincinnatiUniversity of Notre DameWest Virginia UniversityAtlantic Coast ConferenceVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State UniversityMid-American ConferenceTemple UniversityRutgers UniversityAtlantic Coast ConferenceUniversity of MiamiUniversity of PittsburghVillanova UniversitySyracuse UniversitySeton Hall UniversitySt. John's University (New York)Providence CollegeGeorgetown UniversityUniversity of ConnecticutAtlantic Coast ConferenceBoston College

Men's basketball

2009-2010 Men's Basketball Average Home Attendance[18]
School Average Attendance
Syracuse 22,152
Louisville 19,397
Marquette 15,617
West Virginia 12,377
Georgetown 12,040
Connecticut 11,025
Villanova 10,936
Pittsburgh 10,289
Cincinnati 8,529
DePaul 8,451
Notre Dame 8,402
Providence 8,289
Seton Hall 7,413
St. John's 5,478
Rutgers 5,236
South Florida 4,976
See also: Big East Men's Basketball Tournament

The Big East was founded by seven charter schools in 1979 (Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, Seton Hall, Connecticut, and Boston College) with the intent of creating a powerhouse basketball conference.[19] Villanova joined the following year, followed by Pittsburgh in 1982.

It wouldn't take long for the conference to meet its original aim, with Georgetown, led by senior Sleepy Floyd and freshman Patrick Ewing, making the NCAA Championship Game in 1982. Just two years later, in 1984, Georgetown won the Big East's first NCAA basketball championship with a victory over the University of Houston.

The following year three Big East teams (Villanova, St. John's, and Georgetown) all advanced to the Final Four, culminating in Villanova's stunning championship game victory over the heavily-favored Georgetown Hoyas. The conference's 1985 success was nearly duplicated in 1987, when Syracuse and a surprising Providence both made the Final Four, followed by the Orangemen's narrow loss to Indiana University in the tournament final. Two years later, the Seton Hall Pirates also advanced to the NCAA Championship Game, but were defeated by the Michigan Wolverines in an overtime heartbreaker.

Team NCAA Championships Final Fours NCAA appearances
Cincinnati 2 6 24
Connecticut 2 3 29
DePaul 0 2 18*
Georgetown 1 5 25
Louisville 2 8 36
Marquette 1 3 28
Notre Dame 0 (2 Helms) 1 30
Pittsburgh 0 (2 Helms) 1 22
Providence 0 2 15
Rutgers 0 1 6
Saint John'sSt. John's 0 (1 Helms) 2 27
Seton Hall 0 1 9
South Florida 0 0 2
Syracuse 1 (2 Helms) 4 34
Villanova 1 3* 30*
West Virginia 0 2 23
Helms are pre-NCAA tournament era (pre-1939) mythical national championships awarded by the Helms Athletic Foundation.
*Does not include Villanova's 1971 NCAA appearance and Final Four nor DePaul's 1986-89 NCAA appearances that were vacated by the NCAA.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Georgetown, St. John's, and Syracuse were the primary powers in the conference. Georgetown was led by John Thompson Jr., who was named three times as the conference Coach of the Year.[20] They won five regular season conference championships and six Big East Tournaments to go with their 1984 national title.[21] St. John's was led by Lou Carnesecca, who won the National Coach of the Year honor in 1983 and 1985. He led the Redmen (now the Red Storm) to the 1985 Final Four, and made a post-season appearance in each of his 24 years at the helm. Syracuse has been led by alumnus Jim Boeheim since the 1977 season. He was named conference Coach of the Year in 1984 and 1991. During this period, the Orangemen won five regular season conference championships, three Big East Tournaments, and were invited to the NCAA Tournament every year but two (1981 and 1982), losing the 1987 National Final to Indiana. Syracuse eventually won its first national title in 2003, led by coach Boeheim and freshman Carmelo Anthony.

From the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, men's basketball in the Big East was largely dominated by Connecticut. Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun's program, led by such stars as Ray Allen, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, Caron Butler and Emeka Okafor, averaged nearly 26 wins per year during that time span, won numerous Big East regular season and tournament championships, and claimed the National Championship in both 1999 and 2004.

The conference got a record eight teams into the NCAA Men's Tournament in 2006 and matched their own record in 2008. At the start of the 2008–2009 season, many sports analysts predicted that the conference would surpass the record by sending 10 teams to the 2009 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. When the brackets were revealed, seven made it, but three of them (Louisville, Pittsburgh and Connecticut) gained #1 seeds, and Louisville earned the top seed overall. Connecticut and Villanova (a #3 seed) both reached the Final Four.

The conference has a number of former players currently playing in the National Basketball Association with some of the most recent being Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Caron Butler, Carmelo Anthony, Ryan Gomes, Austin Croshere, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, Ben Gordon, Emeka Okafor, Troy Murphy, Hakim Warrick, Quincy Douby, Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry, Rudy Gay, Matt Carroll, Hilton Armstrong, Josh Boone, Jake Voskuhl, Kevin Ollie, Etan Thomas, Samuel Dalembert, Charlie Villanueva, Donte Greene, Ron Artest, Chris Quinn, Jason Hart, Tim Thomas, Aaron Gray, Sam Young, DeJuan Blair, Wilson Chandler, Jeff Green, Joe Alexander, Marcus Williams, Jonny Flynn, Terrence Williams, Earl Clark, Roy Hibbert, and Wesley Matthews.

Women's basketball

See also: Big East Women's Basketball Tournament and Big East Conference Women's Basketball Player of the Year

Big East women's basketball is nearly as powerful as the conference's men's programs.[who?] Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma has led his women's team to seven national championships (including four between 2000 and 2004) and four undefeated seasons (1995, 2002, 2009, and 2010). Connecticut set the record for longest winning streak in all of NCAA women's basketball history with a 70-game winning streak stretching from 2001-2003. This streak was ended in 2003 when Villanova beat Connecticut for the Big East tournament title, in what is considered one of the biggest upsets in women's basketball (Villanova would go on to reach the Elite Eight that year). The Huskies broke their own record with consecutive unbeaten championship seasons in 2009 and 2010; they will enter the 2010–11 season on a 78-game winning streak.

Due to the strength of the Connecticut program, and to a lesser extent 2007 national runner-up Rutgers, and 2001 national champion Notre Dame, the Big East has emerged as one of the major powers in women's college basketball. In 2009 two Big East schools met in the national championship game (Connecticut and Louisville) and the South Florida women's basketball team defeated Kansas to become the WNIT champions.

Men's lacrosse

In 2010, the Big East created a men's lacrosse league with Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s, Syracuse, and Villanova participating.[22] Men's lacrosse is the 24th sport sponsored by the Big East Conference and is the 11th men's sport. The teams play a six-game single round-robin regular-season schedule. There will be no Big East men's lacrosse championship tournament for 2010. Instead, the Big East champion will be determined by conference-game winning percentage at the conclusion of the regular season. This winner will then receive the league's automatic bid to the 16-team NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship.

Team NCAA Championships Final Fours NCAA appearances
Georgetown 0 1 11
Notre Dame 0 2 14
Providence 0 0 3
Rutgers 0 0 9
Saint John'sSt. John's 0 0 0
Syracuse 10* 28 30
Villanova 0 0 1
*Does not include Syracuse's 1990 NCAA National Championship that was vacated by the NCAA for rules infractions.

Football

2009 Average Football Attendance[23]
School Average Attendance
West Virginia 57,317
Pittsburgh 53,446
South Florida 52,553
Rutgers 49,113
Syracuse 39,043
Connecticut 38,229
Cincinnati 33,957
Louisville 32,450
Big East Conference Average 44,513.5

Big East began football during the 1991-1992 season with the addition of Miami and was a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series.[24] The league obtained immediate legitimacy with the addition of powerhouse Miami.[citation needed]

In the league's early years the University of Miami dominated, winning nine of the first thirteen championships and two national championships in 1991 and 2001. Virginia Tech also did well, winning the conference in 1995 and 1996 and earning a #2 national ranking in 1999. West Virginia and Syracuse were the only other teams to win conference titles during the league's original alignment.

The conference experienced a major reconstruction when Miami and Virginia Tech left for the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2004, followed by Boston College in 2005. Initially, Syracuse University was in place to make the jump instead of Virginia Tech, but in 2003, the governor of Virginia put pressure on the ACC to ensure that Virginia Tech was taken over Syracuse. Syracuse was left to remain in the Big East. Temple had joined the Big East for football in 1991, but found it difficult to compete with the other league teams. The conference was compelled to expel the Owls voluntarily in 2004 (after playing two seasons as an independent, Temple joined the MAC in 2007).

The universities that replaced them were Louisville, South Florida and Cincinnati from Conference USA. The league also invited the University of Connecticut to play football a year earlier than planned.

At about this time, the BCS announced that it would adjust the automatic bids granted to its six founding conferences based on results from 2004–07, and that there would be five, six, or seven such bids starting in 2008. The obvious inference was that soon the Big East might lose its bid.

The conference’s fortunes improved in 2005. The three new teams from Conference USA began play that year, restoring the league to eight teams. West Virginia won the conference title, defeated SEC champion Georgia in the Sugar Bowl,[25] and finished 11–1 and finished #5 in the AP poll. Newcomer Louisville also ranked in the Top 20.

File:2006-07BowlChallengeCup.jpg
Bowl Challenge Cup awarded to the Big East for play during the 2006–07 bowl games in which they had an undefeated record of 5-0.

Another former member for football only was Temple. Unlike other football only members in the past, they did not gain full membership in the Big East – due to objections from crosstown rivals Villanova (who do not play football in the Big East). After 14 seasons of mostly poor performance, Temple was kicked out of the conference following the 2004 season. They currently play football in the Mid-American Conference (for that sport only), and are the first school to leave a BCS conference to later join a non-BCS conference.

In 2006, West Virginia, Louisville, and Rutgers all entered November undefeated. However, they did not stay that way, as in a trio of exciting games over the next month, Louisville defeated West Virginia 44–34, Rutgers defeated Louisville 28–25, and West Virginia defeated Rutgers 41–39 in three overtimes. Rutgers’ resurgence after a century of mostly futile play was a national story,[who?] but Louisville won the conference title in the end. In bowl action, the Big East went 5–0, including an Orange Bowl[25] victory for Louisville over Wake Forest and a win by West Virginia over Georgia Tech in the Gator Bowl. Louisville would finish the season ranked 6th, West Virginia 10th, and Rutgers 12th in the final AP Poll.

In 2007, USF, rose to #2 in the BCS rankings. They lost their next three games, however, to drop out of the rankings. They eventually finished the season #21 in the final BCS polls. The Connecticut Huskies, getting as high as #13, and West Virginia remained in the top 25. Cincinnati also rose as high as #15 in the rankings eventually finishing the season with 10 wins and a #17 ranking. Connecticut lost subsequent games and dropped substantially in the rankings, ultimately finishing 25th. On the final day of the season, Pittsburgh upset #2 WVU 13–9 in the 100th edition of the Backyard Brawl to give the Huskies a share of the conference championship, while WVU was stopped on the doorstep of the BCS National Championship Game. In bowl games, WVU upset the Big 12 Champion Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl,[25] despite having lost their highly touted coach, Rich Rodriguez to Michigan less than a month before the game. West Virginia finished the season ranked #6 and Cincinnati finished ranked #17.

Champions

Year Conference Champion Conference Record Bowl Coalition/Alliance/BCS Bowl Representative
1991 Miami / Syracuse* 2–0–0 / 5–0–0 none
1992 Miami* 4–0–0 Miami
1993 West Virginia 7–0–0 West Virginia
1994 Miami 7–0–0 Miami
1995 Virginia Tech / Miami 6–1–0 Virginia Tech
1996 Virginia Tech / Miami / Syracuse 6–1 Virginia Tech
1997 Syracuse 6–1 Syracuse
1998 Syracuse 7–0 Syracuse
1999 Virginia Tech 7–0 Virginia Tech
2000 Miami 7–0 Miami
2001 Miami 7–0 Miami
2002 Miami 7–0 Miami
2003 Miami / West Virginia 6–1 Miami
2004 Pittsburgh / Boston College / Syracuse / West Virginia 4–2 Pittsburgh
2005 West Virginia 7–0 West Virginia
2006 Louisville 6–1 Louisville
2007 West Virginia / Connecticut 5–2 West Virginia
2008 Cincinnati 6–1 Cincinnati
2009 Cincinnati 7–0 Cincinnati
2010 Connecticut / West Virginia / Pittsburgh 5–2 Connecticut

*No official championship awarded in 1991 and 1992, as the conference did not start full league play until 1993.

Bowl games

Pick Name Location Opposing Conference Opposing Pick
1 Bowl Championship Series† - BCS At-Large -
2 Champs Sports Bowl Orlando, Florida ACC 3
3 Meineke Car Care Bowl Charlotte, North Carolina ACC 5
4 Pinstripe Bowl Bronx, New York Big 12 7
5a BBVA Compass Bowl Birmingham, Alabama SEC 8/9
5b Liberty Bowl Memphis, Tennessee C-USA or SEC 1 or 8/9
6 Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida C-USA
Notes on bowl game selection
  • † The Big East's BCS representative is not tied directly to a specific BCS Bowl. It is selected to a bowl in the same manner as an at-large team. The BCS may select a second team to play in another BCS bowl game.
  • Notre Dame is eligible to be chosen in lieu of a Big East team for any non-BCS bowl game. In a separate rule specific only to Notre Dame that doesn't affect the Big East's BCS representative, Notre Dame is eligible to receive a BCS automatic berth if they finish within the top 8 of the BCS Rankings.

Cross country

The Big East Conference has been crowning men's cross country champions since 1979 and women's cross country champions since 1982. Over the years six different women's teams have won Big East Championships: Boston College, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Villanova and West Virginia. On the men's side six teams have won Big East Championships as well: Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Providence, Syracuse and Villanova.[26]

Conference facilities

School Football stadium Capacity Basketball arena Capacity Baseball field Capacity
Cincinnati Nippert Stadium 6 35,097 Fifth Third Arena 13,176 Marge Schott Stadium 3,085
Connecticut Rentschler Field 40,000 Harry A. Gampel Pavilion
XL Center 		10,167
16,294 		J. O. Christian Field 2,000
DePaul non-football school Allstate Arena (men)
Sullivan Athletic Center (women) 		18,500
3,000 		non-baseball school
Georgetown see Patriot League 1 Verizon Center (men)
McDonough Gymnasium (women) 		20,600
2,500 		Shirley Povich Field 1,500
Louisville Papa John's Cardinal Stadium 57,000 KFC Yum! Center 22,500 Jim Patterson Stadium 2,500
Marquette non-football school Bradley Center (men)
Al McGuire Center (women) 		18,717
4,000 		non-baseball school
Notre Dame see Division I-FBS independents 1 Purcell Pavilion at the Edmund P. Joyce Center 9,149 Frank Eck Stadium 2,500
Pittsburgh Heinz Field 65,050 Petersen Events Center 12,508 Petersen Sports Complex 900
Providence non-football school Dunkin' Donuts Center (men)
Alumni Hall (women) 		12,993
2,603 		non-baseball school
Rutgers Rutgers Stadium 5 52,454 Louis Brown Athletic Center (The RAC) 8,000 Bainton Field 1,500
St. John's non-football school Madison Square Garden (some men's games) &
Carnesecca Arena (men & women) 2 		19,522
6,008 		Jack Kaiser Stadium 3,500
Seton Hall non-football school Prudential Center (men)
Walsh Gymnasium (women) 		18,000
2,600 		Owen T. Carroll Field 600
USF Raymond James Stadium 65,000 USF Sun Dome 11,324 Red McEwen Field 2,500
Syracuse Carrier Dome 50,000 Carrier Dome 4 33,000 non-baseball school
TCU Amon G. Carter Stadium 44,358 Daniel–Meyer Coliseum 7,200 Lupton Stadium 3,500
Villanova see Colonial Athletic Association 1 Wells Fargo Center
The Pavilion 3 		21,600
6,500 		Villanova Ballpark at Plymouth 1,500
West Virginia Mountaineer Field 60,000 WVU Coliseum 14,000 Hawley Field 1,500

Future members highlighted in gray.

Notes:
1 Football stadiums for Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Villanova are not "conference facilities" as those universities are not members of Big East Football.
2 St. John's men generally play their Big East home schedule in Madison Square Garden and their non-conference home schedule on campus at Carnesecca Arena. In 2005–06, St. John's played only one non-conference game at MSG and one Big East game on campus.
3 For certain high-profile home games, Villanova uses the Wells Fargo Center, and previously used the Wachovia Spectrum. In 2005-06, Villanova played three home games at the Wells Fargo Center and the rest on campus at The Pavilion. In 2006, the Wells Fargo Center was also a first-round site for the NCAA Tournament. Under NCAA rules, a venue is not considered a home court unless a school plays four or more regular-season games there; this enabled Villanova to play its first two tournament games at the Wells Fargo Center (but Villanova was not considered the host school for that sub-region — the Atlantic 10 Conference was). This situation occurred again in 2009, with Villanova playing (and winning) its first two tournament games at Wells Fargo Center.
4 For Syracuse basketball games in the Carrier Dome, the court is laid out on one end of the field and stands are erected beside it. This makes the Carrier Dome the largest on-campus venue for college basketball in the nation.
5 Late in 2006, Rutgers added approximately 3,000 temporary end zone seats that remained for the 2007 season (total 45,000). In 2008, Rutgers began a stadium expansion project which is expected to increase capacity to over 55,000 seats and add luxury and club seats. The premium seating is projected to be ready for the 2008 season and the additional 12,000 end zone seats are expected for the 2009 season. The stadium is also expected to receive a new name as part of the financing package depends on a name sponsorship.
6 For certain high profile home games, Cincinnati uses the Cincinnati Bengals' Paul Brown Stadium. In 2010, Cincinnati plans to host the University of Oklahoma at Paul Brown Stadium.

Rivalries

Main article: Big East rivalries

Conference champions by year

Year Men's B-ball Regular Season Champion Men's B-ball Tournament Champion Women's B-ball Regular Season Champion Women's B-ball Tournament Champion Football Champion
1979/80 Georgetown/St. John's/Syracuse Georgetown
1980/81 Boston College Syracuse
1981/82 Villanova Georgetown
1982/83 Boston College/St. John's/Villanova St. John's Providence/St. John's St. John's
1983/84 Georgetown Georgetown Pittsburgh/Villanova Pittsburgh
1984/85 St. John's Georgetown St. John's/Villanova St. John's
1985/86 St. John's/Syracuse St. John's Providence Providence
1986/87 Georgetown/Pittsburgh/Syracuse Georgetown Villanova Villanova
1987/88 Pittsburgh Syracuse Syracuse Syracuse
1988/89 Georgetown Georgetown Connecticut Connecticut
1989/90 Connecticut/Syracuse Connecticut Connecticut/Providence Connecticut
1990/91 Syracuse Seton Hall Connecticut Connecticut
1991/92 Georgetown/St. John's/Seton Hall Syracuse Miami Miami Miami
1992/93 Seton Hall Seton Hall Georgetown/Miami Georgetown Miami
1993/94 Connecticut Providence Connecticut Connecticut West Virginia
1994/95 Connecticut Villanova Connecticut Connecticut Miami
1995/96 Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut Virginia Tech/Miami
1996/97 Boston College/Villanova Boston College Connecticut Connecticut Virginia Tech/Miami/Syracuse
1997/98 Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut Syracuse
1998/99 Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut/Rutgers Connecticut Syracuse†
1999/00 Syracuse/Miami St. John's Connecticut Connecticut Virginia Tech†
2000/01 Boston College (east)
Notre Dame (west) 		Boston College Connecticut/Notre Dame Connecticut Miami†
2001/02 Connecticut (east)
Pittsburgh (west) 		Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut Miami†
2002/03 Boston College & Connecticut (east)
Pittsburgh & Syracuse (west) 		Pittsburgh Connecticut Villanova Miami†
2003/04 Pittsburgh Connecticut Connecticut Boston College Miami†/West Virginia
2004/05 Boston College/Connecticut Syracuse Rutgers Connecticut Pittsburgh†/Boston College/Syracuse/West Virginia
2005/06 Connecticut/Villanova Syracuse Rutgers Connecticut West Virginia†
2006/07 Georgetown Georgetown Connecticut Rutgers Louisville†
2007/08 Georgetown Pittsburgh Connecticut Connecticut West Virginia†/Connecticut
2008/09 Louisville Louisville Connecticut Connecticut Cincinnati†
2009/10 Syracuse West Virginia Connecticut Connecticut Cincinnati†

†Received the Conference's BCS (or Alliance Bowl) berth[27]

See also

References

  1. ^ "2008 NATIONAL COLLEGE FOOTBALL ATTENDANCE" (Document). NCAA. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |format= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  2. ^ "ESPN's Thursday night football proves big to the Big East". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2006-12-04.
  3. ^ "Battle for Big East Gets Even Bigger". NCAA Basketball Fanhouse.
  4. ^ Ogle, Mike (2008-10-23). "The Big East Hopes for a Tournament Record". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  5. ^ Snyder, Bob (2007-01-24). "Big East Founding Fathers". Syracuse Post-Standard. Retrieved 2009-06-28. [dead link]
  6. ^ Thamel, Pete (2009-03-09). "Quad Q&A: Big East Commissioner Mike Tranghese". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
  7. ^ Big East Football: A Big Folly?
  8. ^ About the Big East
  9. ^ "Villanova considering Big East invitation". ESPN.com. September 10, 2010. Retrieved September 11, 2010. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ BIG EAST Announces the Formation of Men’s Lacrosse League for 2010 Season - BIG EAST Conference Athletics
  11. ^ "AP source: TCU going to Big East Conference". Associated Press. NBC Sports. November 29, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2010.
  12. ^ Blaudschun, Mark (11 November 2008). "Marinatto selected as new Big East Commissioner". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
  13. ^ "Marinatto to take over as new Big East commissioner in June". Sports Illustrated. New York City: AP. 11 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-12. [dead link]
  14. ^ "Facts about the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio" (Document). University of Cincinnati. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  15. ^ "UConn Fact Sheet 2008" (Document). University of Connecticut. January 2008. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |format= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  16. ^ "Profile > University of Louisville: It's Happening Here" (Document). University of Louisville. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  17. ^ "About WV: WVU Facts" (Document). West Virginia University. {{cite document}}: Unknown parameter |accessdate= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |url= ignored (help)
  18. ^ "Big East Conference Overall Statistical Leaders". BigEast.org. Retrieved 03-07-2010.
  19. ^ "about the Big East". Retrieved 2008-11-15. [dead link]
  20. ^ "A Century of Georgetown Basketball". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  21. ^ "Tradition" (PDF). Georgetown Hoyas Men's Basketball Media Guide. Georgetown University. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  22. ^ BIG EAST Announces the Formation of Men’s Lacrosse League for 2010 Season - BIG EAST Conference Athletics
  23. ^ http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2009/Internet/attendance/FBS_AVGATTENDANCE.pdf
  24. ^ "BCS Chronology". bcsfootball.org. Fox Sports. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  25. ^ a b c "All-Time Results". bcsfootball.org. Fox Sports. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  26. ^ http://bigeast.org/fls/19400/pdfs/Cross_Country/Cross_Country_Record_Book.pdf
  27. ^ "Big East History & Records" (PDF). big east.org. Retrieved 2008-04-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help) [dead link]

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