Big East Conference

From BR Bullpen

The Big East Conference was founded in 1979 when Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, and Syracuse invited Seton Hall, Connecticut, and Boston College to form an athletic conference primarily focused on basketball. Five of the founding seven schools are Catholic schools (Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, Seton Hall, and Boston College). With the additions of Notre Dame and Villanova a few years later, and the 2005 additions of Marquette and DePaul, the Big East represents the majority of the large, athletically competitive Catholic schools (Boston College has since left).

Penn State applied for admission into the Big East in 1982, but was rejected by one vote. This vote led Penn State to cancel its rivalry game with Syracuse and forced the conference to turn to Miami in 1991 to start up a football conference. Miami did not play a Big East schedule until 1993, after they had already won four national football championships. Temple (football only), Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Rutgers were added at this time, with Virginia Tech, West Virginia, and Rutgers later becoming full conference members. In 2010, Texas Christian was added, bringing the conference well beyond its original geographic confines. The next year, TCU reversed course and instead joined the Big 12 Conference, effectively replacing Texas A&M University in that conference.

On September 18, 2011 it was announced that the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University had been admitted to the Atlantic Coast Conference [1]. It was also reported that the University of Connecticut showed strong interest in making the same switch [2]. Rutgers University was also a rumored candidate to the conference and move to the ACC.

The Big East began sponsoring a championship in baseball in 1985.

[edit] 2012 Conference Members & First Year of Baseball

• UConn Huskies - 1980
• Georgetown Hoyas - 1980
• Seton Hall Pirates - 1980
• St. John's Redstorm - 1980
• Villanova Wildcats - 1981
• Pitt Panthers - 1983
• Notre Dame Fighting Irish - 1996
• Rutgers Scarlet Knights - 1996
• West Virginia Mountaineers - 1996
• Cincinnati Bearcats - 2006
• Louisville Cardinals - 2006
• USF Bulls - 2006

The conference has also included Syracuse University and Providence College since its inception but neither supports a baseball program. Marquette University and DePaul University joined in 2006 but also do not support baseball.

[edit] Former Members

• BC Eagles - 1980-2005
• Miami Hurricanes - 1992-2005
• Virginia Tech Hokies - 2001-2005

[edit] Conference Baseball Tournament Champions

• 1985 St. John's University
• 1986 St. John's University
• 1987 Seton Hall University
• 1988 St. John's University
• 1989 Villanova University
• 1990 University of Connecticut
• 1991 Villanova University
• 1992 Providence College
• 1993 St. John's University
• 1994 University of Connecticut
• 1995 University of Pittsburgh
• 1996 West Virginia University
• 1997 St. John's University
• 1998 Rutgers University
• 1999 Providence College
• 2000 Rutgers University
• 2001 Seton Hall University
• 2002 University of Notre Dame
• 2003 University of Notre Dame
• 2004 University of Notre Dame
• 2005 University of Notre Dame
• 2006 University of Notre Dame
• 2007 Rutgers University
• 2008 University of Louisville
• 2009 University of Louisville
• 2010 University of Louisville
• 2011 Seton Hall University

[edit] Players of the Year

• 1985: Dave Ford, Connecticut
• 1986: Roger Haggerty, Providence IF
• 1987: Marteese Robinson, Seton Hall IF
• 1988: Mo Vaughn, Seton Hall IF
• 1989: Gary Scott, Villanova IF
• 1990: Dennis McCaffery, Villanova OF
• 1991: Mike Neill, Villanova OF
• 1992: Sal Tinnerello, Connecticut
• 1993: Jack Stanczak, Villanova IF & Lou Merloni, Providence IF
• 1994: Josh Tyler, Pitt IF
• 1995: Bobby O'Toole, Providence C
• 1996: Jason Grabowski, Connecticut
• 1997: David Kim, Seton Hall OF
• 1998: Brant Ust, Notre Dame IF
• 1999: Keith Reed, Providence OF
• 2000: Darren Fenster, Rutgers IF
• 2001: Mike Scott, Connecticut OF & Steve Stanley, Notre Dame OF
• 2002: Steve Stanley, Notre Dame OF
• 2003: Jarod Rine, WVU OF & Marc Tugwell, Virginia Tech IF
• 2004: P.J. Hiser, Pitt OF
• 2005: Jared McGuire, Boston College OF
• 2006: Craig Cooper, Notre Dame IF
• 2007: Todd Frazier, Tugers IF
• 2008: Josh Harrison, Cincinnati IF & Chris Dominguez, Louisville IF
• 2009: Chris Dominguez, Louisville IF
• 2010: Joe Leonard, Pitt IF
• 2011: George Springer, Connecticut OF

Sources: Big East Conference correspondence, Wikipedia