About the BIG EAST

The Big East Conference

The BIG EAST has gone through membership changes since its birth, but the 2011-12 year marks the conferences seventh straight with the same 16-member group, making for the nation’s largest Division I-A conference.

The BIG EAST Conference's goals have always been the same. The outstanding performances of the student-athletes at BIG EAST schools are evidence of the league's proud tradition of success. The league has always been able to boast that many of its best students are also its best athletes. The 2010-11 year was no different.

Seven BIG EAST student-athletes were named NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners, while 22 earned Capital One Academic All-America recognition. Maya Moore, Connecticut's women’s basketball standout, won the NCAA Honda-Broderick Cup as the nation's top female student-athlete and was chosen as the Capital One Academic All-America of the Year.

In the athletic arena, BIG EAST student-athletes again enjoyed success on the national stage. The Connecticut men's basketball team won its third national championship, completing a magical run through five games of the BIG EAST Championship and six wins in the NCAA tournament. The Villanova women's cross country team won the NCAA title for the second straight year and the ninth time overall. The Notre Dame women's soccer team won its third NCAA title, while BIG EAST teams reached national championship games in women's basketball (Notre Dame) and men's soccer (Louisville).

The BIG EAST placed two teams in the NCAA Women's Final Four for the second time in the last three years as Connecticut joined Notre Dame in Indianapolis, capping a season in which the Huskies extended their NCAA-record winning streak to 90 games.

Individually, BIG EAST student-athletes won five NCAA championships, including an unprecedented four by Villanova's Sheila Reid. Reid was the 2010 individual cross country champion, a member of the Wildcats' winning indoor distance medley relay team and won the 5,000- and 1,500-meter titles in outdoor track & field. Louisville's Matt Hughes, meanwhile, repeated as the NCAA champion in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA outdoor meet.

Moore and Reid joined Notre Dame soccer standout Melissa Henderson as winners of Honda Sports Awards as the top performers in their respective sports. Moore also became the first three-time winner of the Wade Trophy as the nation's top women's basketball player and joined Villanova lacrosse player Brian Karalunas as winners of the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.

BIG EAST football maintained its national profile as a competitively balanced group. Connecticut claimed the league's Bowl Championship Series bid for the first time as the Huskies shared the conference title with Pittsburgh and West Virginia. Six of the league's eight squads went to bowl games and helped the BIG EAST post a 4-2 bowl record for the second straight year.

The BIG EAST became the nation's largest Division I-A conference in 2005-06 when five new members began competing – the University of Cincinnati, DePaul University, the University of Louisville, Marquette University and the University of South Florida.

BIG EAST institutions reside in nine of the nation's top 35 largest media markets, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Tampa, Pittsburgh, Hartford, Cincinnati and Milwaukee.

Since opening its doors in 1979, the league has won 31 national championships in six different sports and 133 student-athletes have won individual national titles.

In 2003-04, Connecticut became the first school in NCAA history to win the men's and women’s NCAA basketball titles in the same season. In ’02-03, the BIG EAST became the first conference in NCAA history to win the men's and women's titles in the same year when the Syracuse men and the Connecticut women captured their respective national championships. In men's basketball, BIG EAST squads have won four of the last 13 NCAA championships. BIG EAST women's teams have taken seven of the last 12 NCAA titles.

Proactive movement has been a signature strategy for the conference that was born in 1979. The BIG EAST continually turns challenges into opportunities to become stronger. The conference currently crowns champions in 24 sports.

The BIG EAST became a reality on May 31, 1979, following a meeting of athletic directors from Providence College, St. John’s, Georgetown and Syracuse universities. Seton Hall, Connecticut and Boston College completed the original seven school alliance.

While the membership has both increased and changed, the focus of the BIG EAST has not wavered. The conference reflects a tradition of broad based programs, led by administrators and coaches who place a constant emphasis on academic integrity. Its student athletes own significantly high graduation rates and their record of scholastic achievement notably show a balance between intercollegiate athletics and academics.

Any successful organization has had the good fortune to have outstanding leadership. The BIG EAST primarily was the brainchild of Dave Gavitt, who was the conference's first Commissioner. Michael Tranghese, the league's first full-time employee, and for 11 years the associate to Gavitt, became Commissioner in 1990. In his first year, he administered the formation of The BIG EAST Football Conference.

The league has long been considered a leader in innovative concepts in promotion and publicity, particularly regarding television. Those efforts have resulted in unparalleled visibility for BIG EAST student athletes. The conference has enjoyed longstanding relationships with CBS, ESPN, Inc. and ABC.

BIG EAST men's basketball games are regular sellouts at campus and major public arenas, including the annual men's BIG EAST Championship in Madison Square Garden. The women's basketball championship has led all conferences in attendance for the past eight years. Attendance figures also are significant in soccer and baseball.

The BIG EAST has its headquarters in Providence where the conference administers to more than 5,500 student-athletes.