A Conversational Chronicle: The Big East Men’s Basketball Conference

Forging a Hoops Dynasty (1979–1990s)

The Big East started in 1979 when Providence coach Dave Gavitt brought together Providence, St. John’s, Georgetown, and Syracuse—and then added Seton Hall, UConn, and Boston College (Rutgers and Holy Cross declined initially). Villanova and Pittsburgh joined shortly thereafter.

In the mid-’80s, the Big East exploded in cultural relevance—highlighted by the jaw-dropping 1985 NCAA Final Four run, with Georgetown, St. John's, and Villanova (which upset Georgetown in the final).

The Football Experiment & Growing Pains (1991–2000s)

The early ’90s brought football into the mix. In 1991, Miami (FL) joined as a full member, with Rutgers, Temple, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia as football-only members. By 1995, Rutgers and WVU upgraded to full membership, and Notre Dame joined as a non-football member. Virginia Tech followed in 2000. Temple was voted out after the 2004 season because of performance and facility issues.

First Realignment Wave (2004–2005)

Between 2004 and 2005, a number of key exits occurred:

• 2004: Miami and Virginia Tech left for the ACC; Temple exited.

• 2005: Boston College followed to the ACC—prompting the Big East to pull in five new members from Conference USA: Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, and South Florida. These additions swelled the league to 16 teams.

Still, these moves only masked deeper tensions between football and basketball-first schools.

Realignment Avalanche (2010–2013)

The early 2010s brought realignment upheaval:

• 2012: West Virginia departed for the Big 12.

• 2013: Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Notre Dame joined the ACC; Louisville and Rutgers moved to ACC and Big Ten respectively in 2014.

• That same year, the seven non-FBS schools—DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, Seton Hall, and Villanova—the “Catholic 7,” decided to split off, keep the Big East branding, and form a basketball-centric conference while purchasing the name and listing rights to the MSG tournament.

• The remaining members formed the American Athletic Conference (AAC), continuing as the charter legal successor.

The Renaissance of the New Big East (2013–2025)

Re-founded in July 2013, the New Big East was solely about basketball—with Butler, Creighton, and Xavier joining the Catholic 7 to enrich the conference.

Fast forward:

• 2020: UConn returns to the fold, re-joining the conference after seven years in the AAC.

• Under Commissioner Val Ackerman’s leadership (appointed in 2013), the league has continued strong—UConn won men’s titles in 2023 and 2024, while the women's program has continued its dominance.

• Despite the leaner structure, the Big East remains competitive: in 2025, teams like UConn, Creighton, Marquette, St. John’s, and Xavier have made the NCAA Tournament.

Peek Ahead: The Merger Rumblings

Intriguingly, some heavyweight voices such as Coach K and UConn’s Dan Hurley are floating ideas of a potential Big East–ACC merger. They suggest it could enhance both basketball quality and provide football homes for schools like UConn—though the diverging priorities of each conference could make such a merger complex.

Quick Year-by-Year Highlights at a Glance

From its inception as a basketball-focused titan in 1979, through its ambitious but fraught flirtation with football, fragmentation and rebranding, and then rebirth in 2013 as a basketball-only league, the Big East has endured—and in many ways thrived. Today, it stands as a leaner but still passionate, competitive conference with a storied legacy and the potential for intriguing transformations on the horizon.

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