Big East Conference

This article is about the Big East since 2013. For the history of the Big East prior to 2013, see Big East Conference (1979–2013). For the separate league that formed during the 2013 reorganization, see American Athletic Conference.

Big East Conference
AssociationNCAA
FoundedMay 31, 1979; 45 years ago (1979-05-31) (de facto)
July 1, 2013; 11 years ago (2013-07-01) (de jure) [note 1]
CommissionerVal Ackerman
Sports fielded
  • 22
    • men's: 10
    • women's: 12
DivisionDivision I (Non-Football)
No. of teams11 (All-Sports Members)
HeadquartersNew York City
RegionNortheastern United States
Midwestern United States
Official websitebigeast.com
Locations
Location of teams in {{{title}}}

The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the 11 full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and Midwest metropolitan areas. The conference was officially recognized as a Division I multi-sport conference on August 1, 2013,[1] and since then conference members have won NCAA national championships in men's basketball, women's cross country, field hockey, men's lacrosse, and men's soccer. Val Ackerman is the commissioner.[2]

The conference was formed after the "Catholic Seven" members of the original Big East Conference elected to split from the football-playing schools in order to start a new conference focused on basketball. These schools (DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's, and Villanova) had announced their decision in December 2012.[3] In March 2013, the new conference purchased the Big East Conference name, logos, basketball records, and the rights to the men's basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden from the football-playing members of the old Big East, who formed the American Athletic Conference (AAC), which is the old conference's legal successor.[4] Both conferences share 1979 as their founding date, when the original conference was founded by Dave Gavitt, and the same history through 2013.[5][6]

Three more schools, Butler, Creighton, and Xavier, joined the conference on its July 1, 2013, launch date.[7] In June 2019, the Big East invited the University of Connecticut (UConn) to "re-join" the conference from the AAC, which they did on July 1, 2020.[8][9] Football is not a sponsored sport, and UConn is the only member with a varsity football team in the top-level Division I FBS. Butler, Georgetown, and Villanova do operate football programs in the second-level Division I FCS. The conference also has four associate members in field hockey, and one in men's and women's lacrosse.


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  1. ^ Ewart, Brian (May 2, 2013). "NCAA Division I Board recognizes New Big East as a conference". VU Hoops. Retrieved July 16, 2013.
  2. ^ Katz, Andy (June 26, 2013). "Big East hires Val Ackerman as chief". ESPN. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
  3. ^ "'Catholic 7' announce official departure from Big East". USA Today. December 15, 2012. Retrieved March 13, 2021.
  4. ^ Bachman, Rachel (March 8, 2013). "It's Official: Big East, Catholic Schools Split". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
  5. ^ "The American Athletic Conference – About the American Athletic Conference". February 9, 2014. Archived from the original on February 9, 2014. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  6. ^ "Big East Conference History". bigeast.com. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
  7. ^ Darcy, Kieran (March 20, 2013). "New Big East adds Butler, 2 others". ESPN. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  8. ^ "Huskies Return Home to the Big East". UConnHuskies.com. July 1, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2021.
  9. ^ Norlander, Matt (June 26, 2019). "UConn leaving AAC after accepting invitation to join Big East Conference in all sports except football". CBSSports.com. Retrieved June 26, 2019.