Big East

From Hoopedia

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

Member Schools

• Cincinnati Bearcats
• Connecticut Huskies
• DePaul Blue Demons
• Georgetown Hoyas
• Louisville Cardinals
• Marquette Golden Eagles
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish
• Pitt Panthers
• Providence Friars
• Rutgers Scarlet Knights
• Seton Hall Pirates
• South Florida Bulls
• St. John's Red Storm
• Syracuse Orangemen
• Villanova Wildcats
• West Virginia Mountaineers

Men's Basketball

It wouldn't take long the conference to meet its original aim, with Georgetown, led by freshman Patrick Ewing, making the NCAA Championship Game (losing to the Michael Jordan -led North Carolina Tar Heels. Just two years later in 1984 Georgetown won Big East's first men's basketball championship with a victory over the University of Houston.

The following year three Big East teams (Villanova, St. John's, and Georgetown) all advance to the Final Four, culminating in Villanova's stunning championship game victory over the heavily-favored 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 University of Michigan Wolverines in a controversial overtime heartbreaker.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, John Thompson led Georgetown was one of the primary powers in the conference, led by Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, and Dikembe Mutombo.

Since the late 1990s, basketball in the Big East has been dominated by UConn. Coached by Jim Calhoun and with star players like Clifford Robinson, Donyell Marshall, Ray Allen, Richard "Rip" Hamilton, Khalid El-Amin, Ben Gordon, and Emeka Okafor, UConn has averaged nearly 26 wins a year over the last fifteen seasons, won the Big East (regular season and tournament) multiple times throughout the 1990s and 2000s, and won a National Championship in both 1999 and 2004. Syracuse won a national championship under Jim Boeheim in 2003, led by Gerry McNamara, Hakim Warrick, and Carmelo Anthony. The latter two are currently playing in the NBA.

In the 2006 season the Big East got a NCAA record eight teams.

Women's Basketball

Big East women's basketball is nearly as powerful as the conference's men's programs. UConn coach Geno Auriemma has led the women's team to five national championships (including four between 2000 and 2004) and two undefeated seasons (1995 and 2002). UConn 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 UConn 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). Three of the first five players taken in the 2003 WNBA draft were from UConn, as was top 2004 pick Diana Taurasi. Under the strength of the UConn program, and to a lesser extent Boston College, Rutgers, and 2001 national champion Notre Dame, the Big East has emerged as one of the major powers in women's college basketball.