Big East Conference
From BR Bullpen
The Big East was founded in 1979 when Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, and Syracuse invited Seton Hall, Connecticut, and Boston College to form a 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 earlier in the conference's history, 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.
The Big East began sponsoring championship in baseball in 1985.
[edit] Current 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 it's inception but niether supports baseball. Marquette University and DePaul University joined in 2006 but also do not support baseball.
[edit] Former Members
[edit] Conference Baseball 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
Source: Wikipedia
