Big East Conference (1979–2013)

Template:About

Big East Conference

File:Big East Conference logo.svg
Association	NCAA
Founded	May 31, 1979 (1979-05-31)
Ceased	Template:End date and age (reorganized as American Athletic Conference)/Big East
Commissioner	Dave Gavitt (first) Michael Aresco (last)
Sports fielded	24 men's: 11 women's: 13
Division	Division I
No. of teams	7–16 full members
Headquarters	Providence, Rhode Island
Region	Northeast South Atlantic Midwest Southeast

The Big East Conference was a collegiate athletics conference that consisted of as many as 16 universities in the eastern half of the United States from 1979 to 2013. The conference's members participated in 24 NCAA sports. The conference had a history of success at the national level in basketball throughout its history, while its shorter (1991 to 2013) football program, created by inviting one college and four other "associate members" (their football programs only) into the conference, resulted in two national championships.

In basketball, Big East teams made 18 Final Four appearances and won 7 NCAA championships as Big East members through 2013 (UConn with three, Georgetown, Syracuse, Louisville and Villanova with one each). Of the Big East's full members, all but South Florida attended the Final Four, the most of any conference, though Marquette, DePaul, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh made all their trips before joining the Big East. In 2011, the Big East set the record for the most teams sent to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship by a single conference with eleven out of their sixteen teams qualifying.

In football, the Big East entered competition as a conference in 1991, after inviting five football colleges to become members of the Big East, joining three teams from the Big East whose football teams were competing as Division I independents (Boston College, Pittsburgh and Syracuse) to form a new Division I football league. The strength of this league earned the Big East an automatic berth in the Bowl Championship Series, when that series was created in 1998. The Big East won two national football championships, both by University of Miami (FL). Between 2005 and 2012, four of the more successful football schools left the Big East for other conferences, starting a process that led to a complete realignment of the Big East in 2013.

On July 1, 2013, the non-football playing schools (also known collectively as the Catholic 7) formed a non-football playing conference that purchased the Big East Conference name. The remaining six football-playing members, three of whom had only joined the Big East in 2005 when the earlier exodus had started, joined with four schools from other conferences to become the American Athletic Conference (The American/AAC), which is the Big East's legal successor. The American retains the Big East's football structure and inherited its single automatic berth in the Bowl Championship Series. However, both conferences claim 1979 as their founding date, and the same history up to 2013. As of the 2023–24 season, South Florida is the only full member of the original Big East that still plays in the AAC today.

History

File:BigEastLocations3.png

Locations of the Big East Conference full member institutions for the conference's final academic year (2012–13)

Founding: the early years

The Big East, often referred to as the Classic Big East, was founded in 1979 after new NCAA basketball scheduling requirements caused the athletic directors of independent schools Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, and Syracuse to discuss the creation of a conference centered in the Northeast. Other schools invited were Seton Hall, Connecticut, Holy Cross, Rutgers, and Boston College, with Rutgers and Holy Cross declining to join. Villanova joined a year later in 1980 and Pittsburgh joined in 1982. Before the formation of the conference, many of these schools participated in the ECAC men's basketball tournament in order to receive an automatic bid for the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

In 1982, 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. Penn State would loom large over the conference during future rounds of realignment as the Nittany Lions had the potential to shore up the conference once football members began to join. Following the decisions by Georgetown, St. John's, and fellow Pennsylvania school Villanova to vote against Penn State's admission, then-Big Ten administrator and future-Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese said the conference would "rue the day" they rejected the Nittany Lions.

Football expansion

About a decade after the conference's inception, Big East members decided to become a major football conference and thus added five schools including Rutgers, Miami (FL), Temple, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia – though only Miami would be offered full all-sports membership immediately. The inaugural Big East football season launched in 1991. West Virginia and Rutgers were offered admission to the Big East as full members starting in the 1995–96 academic year, and Notre Dame, committed to its football independence, was offered a non-football membership effective the same year. Virginia Tech would be forced to wait until 2000–01 for full admission, and Temple remained a football-only member until 2004, when it was voted out of the conference due to poor attendance figures, lack of playing success, and inadequate facilities.

Turmoil and realignment

See also: 2005 NCAA conference realignment

Some have argued that the unusual structure of the Big East, with the "football" and "non-football" schools, led to instability in the conference. In 2003, the ongoing press reports of tensions between the football schools and the basketball-only 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 result was that three Big East schools—Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College—moved to the ACC, while five schools moved to the Big East from Conference USA—Louisville, Cincinnati, South Florida, Marquette, and DePaul.

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.

Meanwhile, Loyola University Maryland (then Loyola College in Maryland) also joined the Big East as an associate member in women's lacrosse for the 2005–06 academic year.

Continued instability

• Main article: 2010–13 Big East Conference realignment

See also: 2010–2014 NCAA conference realignment

In 2010, Texas Christian University accepted an invitation to join the conference as an all-sports member beginning in the 2012–13 academic year. Big East schools compete in Division I. Most of the football-playing schools play in Division I FBS, while Georgetown and Villanova have Division I FCS (formerly I-AA) football programs. Georgetown football competes in the Patriot League. Villanova has competed in the Colonial Athletic Association football conference since 1988, dating back to its time as a completely separate conference known as the Yankee Conference, which merged with the Atlantic 10 Conference in 1997, then in 2007 the CAA took over management of the A-10 football conference (which happened after Northeastern University joined the CAA in 2005, giving them the six football-playing members needed to start sponsoring football, which was eventually dropped by Northeastern after 2009). In September 2010, in the wake of a Division I realignment that affected a number of conferences around the country, the Big East asked Villanova to consider becoming a football member. The school once considered the offer, which required the school to substantially expand its football budget, as well as expand its stadium to meet FBS requirements or find another suitable venue in the Philadelphia area. Villanova presented a plan to the Big East football members on April 10, 2011, which included the use of PPL Park as a football stadium, but the league declined to schedule a vote to offer membership on the objections of Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Rutgers to the plan. On September 17, 2011, Syracuse, a charter member of the conference, and Pittsburgh announced that they would be leaving the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference. Both schools originally intended to fulfill their commitment to the 27-month waiting period. TCU also reversed its decision and accepted an invitation from the Big 12 Conference to move there.

On October 28, 2011, it was announced by the Big 12 Conference that West Virginia accepted its invitation to join, with membership beginning in 2012. This timeline was challenged by the Big East, and countersuits were launched by the school and conference. Eventually, a settlement was reached with allowed West Virginia's departure for 2012 in exchange for sizable compensation. Syracuse and Pittsburgh then used the acquiescence of the Big East to West Virginia's departure to challenge the validity of their own commitment, and the Big East agreed to a settlement with both schools in July 2012 to allow their departure for the 2013 academic year.

In December, after the 2011 football regular season was completed announcements were made that Boise State University and San Diego State University, both of the Mountain West Conference, would join the Big East in football only; and that Conference USA members University of Central Florida, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Houston would join in all sports for the 2013 academic year.

On January 24, 2012, the Navy Midshipmen accepted an invitation to join the Big East for football only starting in 2015.

On February 9, 2012, the Big East invited the University of Memphis to join as a full member in all sports to begin play in 2013.

On March 7, 2012, it was announced that Temple University would return to the conference for football in the 2012 season, filling the void left by West Virginia. Temple would join for all sports in 2013. Temple basketball would move over from the Atlantic 10 Conference, where they have been a perennial powerhouse.

On August 29, 2012, Loyola and the Patriot League announced that all Loyola athletic teams, including the school's Big East team in women's lacrosse, would join that conference on July 1, 2013.

On September 12, 2012, Notre Dame announced it would follow Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC, joining that league in all sports except football. Notre Dame and the Big East reached agreement on March 13, 2013; the exit took place July 1, 2013.

On November 20, 2012, Rutgers announced it would be leaving the Big East to join the Big Ten Conference as a full member, effective with the start of the 2014–15 academic year. Rutgers' announcement came one day after the University of Maryland departed the ACC to join the Big Ten. One week later, on November 27, Tulane University accepted the Big East's invitation to join as an all-sports member. East Carolina University's football program also joined the Big East in 2014; both schools were previously with Conference USA. The following day the ACC voted to invite Louisville to join in 2014, making them the seventh school since 2004 to leave the Big East in favor of the ACC. On March 27, 2013, East Carolina's future membership in the renamed conference was officially upgraded to all-sports membership.

Conference split

New Big East

• Main article: Big East Conference

Less than two weeks after Louisville announced its departure for the ACC, multiple media reports indicated that the Big East's seven remaining non-FBS schools, all Catholic institutions, were considering a mass exit from the conference. By December 13, it was likely that the non-FBS schools would indeed leave to form a new conference, and on December 15, the seven schools (soon to be called the Catholic 7 by the media) made their departure official, effective with the 2015–16 school year. Many details remained to be worked out, with one major issue being whether the "Big East" name would stay with the FBS schools.

On December 31, Boise State announced they had decided to stay in the Mountain West conference, leaving the Big East, much like TCU, without ever playing a game in it. With Boise State staying in the Mountain West, it was noted that San Diego State would indeed try to rejoin the Mountain West as well. On January 16, 2013, reports surfaced that SDSU would indeed stay in the Mountain West. Rumors of the MWC looking at potentially adding Houston and SMU as its 13th and 14th football members, both of which had stated they would join the Big East in 2013, continued to circulate as well.

In February 2013, multiple media reports indicated that the Catholic 7 would depart in July 2013, two years earlier than originally planned. On March 5, the Associated Press reported tentative details of a financial agreement: In exchange for selling both the Big East name and a contract with Madison Square Garden (MSG) to host the men's basketball tournament to the Catholic 7, as well as $10 million, the football schools would receive $100 million of a $110 million pool that had accumulated from entry fees, exit fees, and proceeds earned from appearances in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. On April 3, the football-playing schools, which retained the old Big East's structure and its automatic BCS bid, announced they would operate as the American Athletic Conference starting on July 1.

Membership timeline

Full members Full members (non-football) Assoc. members (football only) Assoc. member (list sports) Other Conference Other Conference

Subsequent conference affiliations

Team	Left for	Current home
Connecticut	American Athletic Conference	Big East Conference (plays as football independent)
Rutgers		Big Ten Conference
Louisville		Atlantic Coast Conference
Cincinnati		Big 12 Conference
Syracuse	Atlantic Coast Conference
Pittsburgh
Boston College
Virginia Tech
Miami
Notre Dame	Atlantic Coast Conference (plays as football independent)
West Virginia	Big 12
Georgetown	new Big East Conference
Marquette
Villanova
Providence
DePaul
St. John's
Seton Hall
Temple	American Athletic Conference
South Florida

Commissioners

Years	Commissioners
1979–1990	Dave Gavitt
1990–2009	Mike Tranghese
2009–2012	John Marinatto
2012	Joseph Bailey (Interim)
2012–2013	Michael Aresco

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. On May 7, 2012, John Marinatto resigned as commissioner. He was replaced by Joseph Bailey on an interim basis. Mike Aresco, the Executive Vice President of CBS Sports' Programming, was named Commissioner of The Big East on August 14, 2012. After the old Big East changed its name to the American Athletic Conference, Aresco continued as commissioner. The new Big East named Val Ackerman as commissioner on July 1, but reckons her as its fifth commissioner.

Member institutions

As of the beginning of the 2012–13 academic year, there were 15 full members and two associate members of the Big East. On July 1, 2013, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and Notre Dame joined the ACC. DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Villanova joined the new Big East. Cincinnati, Connecticut, South Florida, and Temple remained in the old Big East, which changed its name to the American Athletic Conference. Rutgers and Louisville played one season in the AAC before joining the Big Ten and ACC, respectively, for 2014–15.

Full members

Institution	Location (Population)	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Year Joined	Nickname	Endowment	Current Conference
University of Cincinnati	Cincinnati, OH (296,943)	1819	Public	41,357	2005	Bearcats	$1,004,000,000	Big 12
University of Connecticut	Storrs, CT (15,344)	1881	Public	30,034	1979	Huskies	$447,700,000	Big East (Independent in football)
University of Louisville	Louisville, Kentucky (741,096)	1798	Public	23,262	2005	Cardinals	$762,300,000	ACC
University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, PA (305,704)	1787	Public/State-Related	28,823	1982	Panthers	$2,032,798,000	ACC
Rutgers University	New Brunswick, NJ (55,181)	1766	Public	38,912	1995	Scarlet Knights	$603,083,000	Big Ten
University of South Florida	Tampa, FL (335,709)	1956	Public	47,122	2005	Bulls	$339,000,000	The American
Syracuse University	Syracuse, NY (145,170)	1870	Private/Non-sectarian	20,407	1979	Orange	$849,157,000	ACC
West Virginia University **	Morgantown, WV (137,251)	1867	Public	29,660	1995	Mountaineers	$611,300,000	Big 12

Full members except in football

Institution	Location (Population)	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Year Joined	Nickname	Endowment	Current Conference
DePaul University	Chicago, Illinois (2,695,598)	1898	Private/Catholic	25,398	2005	Blue Demons	$414,000,000	Big East
Georgetown University	Washington, D.C. (601,723)	1789	Private/Catholic	16,437	1979	Hoyas	$1,009,736,000	Big East
Marquette University	Milwaukee, Wisconsin (594,833)	1881	Private/Catholic	11,599	2005	Golden Eagles	$401,200,000	Big East
University of Notre Dame	Notre Dame, Indiana (101,168)	1842	Private/Catholic	11,733	1995	Fighting Irish	$6,800,000,000	ACC (FBS Independent in Football)
Providence College	Providence, Rhode Island (178,042)	1917	Private/Catholic	4,585	1979	Friars	$165,900,000	Big East
St. John's University	Jamaica, Queens, NY (216,866/8,175,133)	1870	Private/Catholic	21,354	1979	Red Storm	$303,057,000	Big East
Seton Hall University	South Orange, NJ (16,198)	1856	Private/Catholic	9,745	1979	Pirates	$162,889,000	Big East
Villanova University	Villanova, PA (9,189)	1842	Private/Catholic	10,482	1980	Wildcats	$370,292,000	Big East

Associate members

Institution	Location (Population)	Primary Conference	Type	Enrollment	Year Joined	Nickname	Big East Sport	Endowment	Current Conference
Loyola University Maryland	Baltimore, MD (620,961)	MAAC	Private/ Catholic	6,531	2005	Greyhounds	Women's lacrosse	$143,000,000	Patriot League
Temple University	Philadelphia, PA (1,526,006)	A-10	Public (state-related)	37,697	2012	Owls	Football	$280,000,000	The American

Previous members

Former full members

Institution	Location (Population)	Beginning Year	Ending Year	Nickname	Current Conference
Boston College	Chestnut Hill, MA (22,491)	1979	2005	Eagles	ACC
University of Miami	Coral Gables, FL (42,871)	1991	2004	Hurricanes	ACC
Virginia Tech *	Blacksburg, VA (42,620)	2000	2004	Hokies	ACC

^* Virginia Tech was an associate member of the Big East 1991–2000. ^** West Virginia was an associate member of the Big East 1991–1995. Note: Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame and Louisville left the Big East and joined the ACC. Syracuse and Pittsburgh departed the Big East on July 1, 2013; each paid the Big East $7.5 million to depart on that date. Notre Dame joined the ACC on July 1, 2013, while Louisville left for the ACC on July 1, 2014. Rutgers left for the Big Ten on July 1, 2014.

Former associate members

Institution	Location (Population)	Membership Type	Primary Conference	Joined	Left	Nickname
Rutgers University *	New Brunswick, NJ (55,181)	Football	A-10 (1976–1995)	1991	1995	Scarlet Knights
West Virginia University *	Morgantown, WV (29,660)	Football	A-10 (1976–1995)	1991	1995	Mountaineers
Virginia Tech **	Blacksburg, VA (42,620)	Football	Metro (1991–1995) A-10 (1995–2000)	1991	2000	Hokies
Temple University ***	Philadelphia, PA (1,526,006)	Football	A-10 (1982–2013)	1991	2004	Owls

^* Rutgers and West Virginia joined the Big East as full members in 1995. ^** Virginia Tech joined the Big East as a full member in 2000. ^*** Temple was removed from the Big East as a football-only member after the 2004 football season. Temple was invited to the Big East as a full member in March 2012, with football returning in July 2012 and all other sports joining in July 2013.

Invited members

The following is a list of institutions which planned to join the Big East conference but later reneged. The Big East invited nine schools – four full time members (University of Houston, Southern Methodist University, University of Memphis, University of Central Florida) and, five as football-only members (United States Air Force Academy, United States Naval Academy, Boise State University, Brigham Young University, San Diego State University). To further stabilize the conference, members unanimously agreed to double the exit fee from $5 million to $10 million, contingent on any one accepted invitation. Of the schools, all four invited to full membership accepted, as well as football-only Boise State, Navy, and San Diego State. BYU and the Big East were unable to come to terms; the conference insisted that BYU relinquish its TV rights for its home games as a condition of membership, and BYU was unwilling to do so.

Institution	Location (Population)	Former conference	Current Conference	Year	Nickname
University of Central Florida **	Orlando, FL (307,573)	Conference USA (2005–2012)	Big 12	2012	Knights
University of Houston **	Houston, TX (2.3 million)	Conference USA (1995–2012)	Big 12	2012	Cougars
University of Memphis**	Memphis, TN (650,910)	Conference USA (1995–2012)	The American	2012	Tigers
Southern Methodist University**	Dallas, TX (1.3 million)	Conference USA (2005–2012)	The American	2012	Mustangs
Texas Christian University *	Fort Worth, TX (758,738)	Mountain West (2005–2012)	Big 12	2011	Horned Frogs

^* TCU was to join the Big East as a full member in 2012 before accepting an invitation to the Big 12. ^** Houston, Memphis, SMU, and UCF accepted invitations to the Big East as full members.

Sports

The Big East Conference sponsored championship competition in eleven men's and thirteen women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Temple was an Associate member for football, and Loyola, Maryland was an Associate member for women's lacrosse.

Teams in Big East Conference competition

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	11	-
Basketball	15	15
Cross country	14	15
Field hockey	-	7
Football	8	-
Golf	12	8
Lacrosse	7	9
Rowing	-	8
Soccer	15	15
Softball	-	13
Swimming & Diving	9	10
Tennis	9	15
Track and field (indoor)	13	14
Track and field (outdoor)	13	14
Volleyball	-	14

NOTE: Under NCAA rules reflecting the large number of male scholarship participants in football and attempting to address gender equity concerns (see also Title IX), each football playing member institution is required to provide two more women's varsity sports than men's.

Football

File:BE football logo.jpg

Big East began football during the 1991–1992 season with the addition of Miami and was a founding member of the Bowl Championship Series.

In the league's early years the University of Miami (FL) 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, 1996, and in 1999, when they also earned a No. 2 national ranking. 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, Mark Warner, put pressure on the ACC (via the vote of the University of Virginia) to ensure that Virginia Tech was not left out of the conference expansion. Syracuse, then, was not invited to the ACC and was left to remain in the Big East. Temple had joined the Big East for football only in 1991, but found it difficult to compete with the other league teams and drew very poor attendance to its games. 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 to 2007, 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 and the Sugar Bowl, and finished 11–1 and finished No. 5 in the AP poll. Newcomer Louisville also ranked in the Top 20.

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. Louisville won the conference title in the end. In bowl action, the Big East went 5–0, including an Orange Bowl 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 No. 2 in the BCS rankings. They lost their next three games, however, to drop out of the rankings. They eventually finished the season No. 21 in the final BCS polls. The Connecticut Huskies, getting as high as No. 13, and West Virginia remained in the top 25. Cincinnati also rose as high as No. 15 in the rankings eventually finishing the season with 10 wins and a No. 17 ranking. Connecticut lost subsequent games and dropped substantially in the rankings, ultimately finishing 25th. On the final day of the season, Pittsburgh upset No. 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, despite having lost their highly touted coach, Rich Rodriguez to Michigan less than a month before the game. West Virginia finished the season ranked No. 6 and Cincinnati finished ranked #17.

The 2009 season saw Cincinnati finish the regular season undefeated at 12–0 and climb to No. 3 in the final BCS standings. After completing a fourth quarter comeback to beat Pittsburgh on the final day of the season, the Bearcats narrowly missed a spot in the BCS national championship game, as No. 2 Texas pulled out a last second win in the Big 12 Championship Game. The Bearcats would go on to lose the Sugar Bowl to No. 5 Florida and finish the year 12–1.

On September 18, 2011, both Pittsburgh and Syracuse were accepted as Atlantic Coast Conference members although the exact date of the move is still uncertain. ("ESPN".) There are also rumors that UConn is also looking to leave the Big East and join Pittsburgh and Syracuse in the ACC. ("ESPN".) On October 28, 2011, West Virginia announced it was leaving the Big East to join the Big 12 in 2012. TCU, who had accepted an invitation to join the Big East in the 2012 season, withdrew its acceptance and instead accepted an invitation to join the Big 12.

In 2011, as a response to major shifts in the college football conference landscape, the conference added five new members to help offset the losses of Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and West Virginia. On December 7, 2011, the conference officially added the University of Houston, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Central Florida as all-sports members. Additionally, Boise State and San Diego State of the Mountain West Conference were added as football-only members, but Boise State eventually decided not to join the Big East, which allowed San Diego State to withdraw without penalty.

Champions

Season	Conference Champion	Conference record	Bowl Coalition/Alliance/BCS Bowl Representative
1993	West Virginia	7–0	West Virginia
1994	Miami (FL)	7–0	Miami (FL)
1995	Virginia Tech / Miami (FL)	6–1	Virginia Tech
1996	Virginia Tech / Miami (FL) / Syracuse	6–1	Virginia Tech
1997	Syracuse	6–1	Syracuse
1998	Syracuse	6–1	Syracuse
1999	Virginia Tech	7–0	Virginia Tech
2000	Miami (FL)	7–0	Miami (FL)
2001	Miami (FL)	7–0	Miami (FL)
2002	Miami (FL)	7–0	Miami (FL)
2003	Miami (FL) / West Virginia	6–1	Miami (FL)
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 / UConn	5–2	West Virginia
2008	Cincinnati	6–1	Cincinnati
2009	Cincinnati	7–0	Cincinnati
2010	UConn / Pittsburgh / West Virginia	5–2	UConn
2011	West Virginia / Cincinnati / Louisville	5–2	West Virginia
2012	Louisville / Cincinnati / Rutgers / Syracuse	5–2	Louisville**

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

**Louisville received the BCS bid since they were the highest ranked team in the final BCS poll.

BCS Bowl Games

The Big East had an 8–7 record in BCS bowl games, including a 1–2 record in National Championship games.

Big East in BCS Bowl Games
Date	BCS Bowl Game	Rank	Winning Team	Points	Rank	Losing Team	Points
January 2, 1999	FedEx Orange Bowl	No. 8	Florida	31	No. 15	Syracuse	10
January 4, 2000	Nokia Sugar Bowl (National Championship)	No. 1	Florida State	46	No. 2	Virginia Tech	29
January 2, 2001	Nokia Sugar Bowl	No. 3	Miami (FL)	37	No. 7	Florida	20
January 3, 2002	Rose Bowl (National Championship)	No. 1	Miami (FL)	37	No. 2	Nebraska	14
January 3, 2003	Tostitos Fiesta Bowl (National Championship)	No. 2	Ohio State	31	No. 1	Miami (FL)	24 (2 OT)
January 1, 2004	FedEx Orange Bowl	No. 9	Miami (FL)	16	No. 7	Florida State	14
January 1, 2005	Tostitos Fiesta Bowl	No. 6	Utah	35	No. 21	Pittsburgh	7
January 2, 2006	Nokia Sugar Bowl	No. 11	West Virginia	38	No. 7	Georgia	35
January 2, 2007	FedEx Orange Bowl	No. 6	Louisville	24	No. 14	Wake Forest	13
January 2, 2008	Tostitos Fiesta Bowl	No. 9	West Virginia	48	No. 4	Oklahoma	28
January 1, 2009	FedEx Orange Bowl	No. 19	Virginia Tech	20	No. 12	Cincinnati	7
January 1, 2010	Allstate Sugar Bowl	No. 5	Florida	51	No. 3	Cincinnati	24
January 1, 2011	Tostitos Fiesta Bowl	No. 7	Oklahoma	48	NR	UConn	20
January 4, 2012	Discover Orange Bowl	No. 23	West Virginia	70	No. 15	Clemson	33
January 2, 2013	Allstate Sugar Bowl	No. 21	Louisville	33	No. 3	Florida	23

• Big East team in bold

Bowl games

Pick	Name	Location	Opposing Conference	Opposing Pick
1	Bowl Championship Series†	–	BCS At-Large	–
2	Russell Athletic Bowl	Orlando, FL	ACC	3
3	Belk Bowl	Charlotte, NC	ACC	5
4	Pinstripe Bowl	Bronx, NY	Big 12	7
5/6	BBVA Compass Bowl	Birmingham, AL	SEC	8/9
5/6	Liberty Bowl	Memphis, TN	C-USA or SEC	1 or 8/9
7	Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl	St. Petersburg, FL	C-USA	4

Notes on bowl game selection

• † The Big East's BCS representative was not tied directly to a specific BCS Bowl. It was 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. Beginning in 2008, the Big East champion was rotated between the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl (in that order).
• Notre Dame was eligible to be chosen in lieu of a Big East team for the Russell Athletic Bowl one time during a four-year period. In a separate rule specific only to Notre Dame that does not 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.

Facilities

Facilities listed here are those used by each school in its final year of Big East membership before the 2013 conference split. Names and capacities are also those from each school's final year of pre-split membership, and do not necessarily reflect current data.

School	Football stadium	Capacity
Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium Paul Brown Stadium1	35,097 65,790
Connecticut	Rentschler Field	40,000
Georgetown	Sponsors football in the Patriot League
Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium	57,000
Notre Dame	Sponsors football as a Division I-FBS independent
Pittsburgh	Heinz Field	65,050
Rutgers	High Point Solutions Stadium 2	52,454
South Florida	Raymond James Stadium	65,908
Syracuse	Carrier Dome	49,250
Temple	Lincoln Financial Field	68,532
Villanova	Sponsors football in the Colonial Athletic Association

Schools that moved to the Big East Conference (2013–present) are highlighted in grey. Those that moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference are in pink. Those that remained in the renamed American Athletic Conference for 2013–14 are in white.

Notes:
¹ For certain high-profile home games, Cincinnati uses the Cincinnati Bengals' Paul Brown Stadium. In 2010, Cincinnati hosted the University of Oklahoma at Paul Brown Stadium. In 2011, Cincinnati used Paul Brown Stadium as an alternate home field for games against Louisville and West Virginia.
² 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.

References

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