A BIG EAST History & Retrospective (Part 1)
12/8/2000 12:04:01 PM | General
<b>By Jake Crouthamel<br>Syracuse University Director of Athletics</b><br><a href="../9/bigeasthistory2.asp?path=gen">Part 2</a>
And now we are fourteen. I am referring to The BIG EAST Conference which, with the addition of Virginia Tech, moves us to that number. As one of the four founding fathers of the BIG EAST and the only one still directly associated with it, I have had the great pleasure of involvement with its entire history to date. Of all our sports only men's lacrosse, wrestling and men's/women's crew do not participate in formal BIG EAST championships. The Conference has grown to become one of the majors in the country, representing some of the finest teams and individual performers in intercollegiate athletics. It certainly didn't start that way, however. Of the coaches for which a championship was originally provided, only Jim Boeheim remains. As a result, I thought it worthwhile to go through a bit of the history of The BIG EAST Conference since 10 of our coaching staffs inherited their involvement.
THE CREATION
In the Spring of 1978, only a few months after my arrival in Syracuse, Dave Gavitt, Jack Kaiser and Frank Rienzo, Athletics Directors at Providence, St. Johns and Georgetown respectively, gathered to discuss newly imposed NCAA men's basketball in-season scheduling requirements. These requirements forced independent institutions like the four of us to align and schedule schools with whom we had no interest or tradition. Self determination was far better than being told who your partners would be, and so the four of us met for countless hours in countless sessions to determine the make-up of our new conference to be. We considered the quality of men's basketball programs in the northeast, regional representation, significant media markets, etc. Boston College was invited over Holy Cross, UMass and Boston University. Connecticut was then added. Rutgers was extended an invitation but declined because it was aligned in the Atlantic 8 (now the Atlantic 10) along with Penn State. Rutgers didn't feel comfortable disassociating itself with Penn State. Seton Hall took Rutgers spot. Villanova was also in the Atlantic 8, but it joined up a year later over Temple and St. Josephs. Thus, in the first year of operation, 1979-80, we had seven active members which increased to eight in 1980-81.
After only two years of existence as a conference formed specifically for men's basketball, football became an issue. Joe Paterno, head football coach and then Director of Athletics at Penn State, had been trying to put together an all-sports conference of the eastern Division IA independent schools. They included Syracuse, Boston College, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, West Virginia and Temple. While our football fortunes would be well served through such an alignment, it would have been a step backward for men's basketball. To enter into such an alignment Syracuse and Boston College would have had to leave the BIG EAST. With the reluctance of B.C. and Syracuse to do so, Penn State then asked for membership in the BIG EAST. This was a turning point in the Conferences history. If Penn State was accepted, our football would be protected. If Penn State was rejected, B.C. and Syracuse might have no other option but to leave the BIG EAST, and join together with the other Eastern independents. To expand membership in The BIG EAST Conference six affirmative votes were necessary. The vote was 5-3. Instead of taking Penn State, we invited Pittsburgh as the ninth member. At that time Pittsburgh and Penn State were bitter rivals, and Pittsburgh was less than enamored with aligning itself with Penn State. Pitt's membership in the BIG EAST, along with B.C. and Syracuse, checkmated Penn State's eastern all-sports conference, and gave the Conference one more Division IA school. This football issue nearly caused the premature demise of the BIG EAST. Clearly, three schools in the BIG EAST had no concept of the importance of football, but the others realized that this decision not to invite Penn State would come back to haunt us. In fact, football would dictate every future consideration of membership expansion of our "basketball" conference.
Men's sports championships were conducted in the current array in the first year of operation, 1979-80. Women's sports were added with the 1982-83 season. For those of you who have been part of this growth, especially Kathleen Parker and Lou Walker, we went from a seat-of-the-pants operation to one of being well organized and professional. The BIG EAST conducts championships in nine mens sports and, with the addition of women's lacrosse next season, 11 womens sports. We have had both individual and team NCAA champions scattered throughout these sports through the years, and have established ourselves as one of the major conferences in the country.
BIG EAST BASKETBALL KING OF THE 80s
Former SU Point Guard Pearl Washington During the eight-year period from 1981-82 through 1988-99, men's basketball flourished in the BIG EAST. We were the most televised conference in the country, won two NCAA championships, and twice lost in the NCAA final game. But the clouds were forming around the issue of football again with B.C., Pitt and Syracuse sensing some conference movement around the country. The BIG EAST re-opened quiet discussions with Penn State about membership. Suddenly, the Big Ten jumped in and snapped up Penn State. Other conferences began nosing around for potential new members, particularly the ACC and the SEC. At that time the Athletics Directors at Pitt and B.C. joined me on a trip to the ACC Conference office to talk about federated membership in football only.
