NEW YORK – The BIG EAST Conference announced the dates and sites of the Olympic sports championships for the 2021-22 academic year. Highlighting the list of 20 Olympic sport championship sites are new venues for their respective sports: the Gately Indoor Track Facility in Chicago, Ill., for indoor track & field, Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium in Denver, Colo., for women’s lacrosse and Cooper Field in Washington, D.C. for men’s lacrosse. All 22 BIG EAST Championships, including the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, are Presented by JEEP.
Additionally, the BIG EAST has announced that broadcast partner FOX will feature five regular season events on FS1 this fall, in addition to its regular championship coverage.
Starting in early September, FS1 will broadcast two non-conference in-state rivalry volleyball matches. On Wednesday, Sept. 8, BIG EAST preseason favorite Creighton hosts Nebraska at CHI Health Center Omaha at 7:30 p.m. ET. On Sunday, Sept. 12, FS1 will feature Marquette hosting Wisconsin at 5:30 p.m. ET. Both Nebraska and Wisconsin are ranked in the top five of the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) preseason poll. Creighton and Marquette are both receiving votes. FS1 will finish the volleyball season with the Sunday, Nov. 21 BIG EAST contest between Creighton and St. John’s in Omaha. Time for that match is to be determined.
FS1 will continue regular season coverage with a women’s soccer contest between BIG EAST preseason favorite Georgetown and Providence at Shaw Field in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, Oct. 3 at 2:30 p.m. ET. The rematch of last season’s men’s soccer championship game between Seton Hall and Georgetown will air on FS1 on Wednesday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. from Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, N.J.
The BIG EAST women’s soccer championship final will air on FS1 on Sunday, Nov. 7 at 1:30 p.m. ET. The format of the women’s soccer championship this year will have the No. 3 seed hosting the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed hosting the No. 5 seed in the first round on Sunday, Oct. 31. The semifinals and championship game will be played at the No. 1 seed’s home pitch. The semifinals will take place on Thursday, Nov. 4.
The BIG EAST men’s soccer championship format will be the same as the women’s with the top seed hosting the semifinals and final and the No. 3 seed and No. 4 seed acting as the hosts for the first round. First round action will get underway on Saturday, Nov. 6 with the semifinals on Thursday, Nov. 11. The championship game will air on FS2 on Sunday, Nov. 14 at noon.
The first round and semifinals of both the men’s and women’s soccer championships will stream on the BIG EAST Digital Network Presented by SoFi on FloSports (BEDN). Including all men’s and women’s soccer conference contests, approximately 350 BIG EAST events will stream on FloSports this fall with nearly 600 events for the year.
The volleyball championship returns to the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee, Wis., hosted by Marquette and will be played on Friday, Nov. 26 and Saturday, Nov. 27. The championship game will air on FS2 with the start time not yet announced.
The Cross Country Championships will be hosted by Butler at Northview Church in Carmel, Ind., on Friday, Oct. 29. The men’s and women’s races will stream on BEDN.
The BIG EAST Field Hockey Championship will be hosted by University of Connecticut at the Sherman Sports Complex in Storrs, Conn. The semifinals will take place on Friday, Nov. 5 with the final on Sunday, Nov. 7. All rounds of the field hockey championship will stream on BEDN.
For the winter, the BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships will return to the Nassau Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y. The championships will take place Wednesday, Feb. 23 through Saturday, Feb. 26. The Indoor Track & Field Championships will be hosted by DePaul at the Gately Indoor Track & Field complex in Chicago, Ill., on Friday, Feb. 25 and Saturday, Feb. 26. It will be the first time the championships will be held at the newly-constructed facility, which features Illinois’ first hydraulically banked 200-meter track. Both championships will stream on BEDN.
The spring championships kick off with the men’s and women’s tennis championships starting Thursday, April 21 and finishing on Sunday, April 24 in Cayce, S.C. at the Cayce Tennis Center. It will be the sixth consecutive year at Cayce. The women’s golf championship will take place simultaneously, Friday, April 22 through April 24. The men’s golf championship follows, going Friday, April 29 through Sunday, May 1. Both golf championships return to Callawassie Island Club in Okatie, S.C.
The women’s lacrosse championship will be hosted by reigning champion Denver at the Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, Thursday, May 5 and Saturday, May 7. Although the men’s championship has been played in Denver, it will be the first time the women’s tournament will be played in the Rockies. The men’s championship will be hosted by three-time defending champion Georgetown at Cooper Field in Washington, D.C. It will be the first time the Hoyas will host the championship, which will take place on the same dates as the women, Thursday, May 5 and Saturday, May 7.
The outdoor track & field championships return to Storrs, Conn., for the first time since 2007. Connecticut will host the conference meet, which will take place on Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14 at the Sherman Sports Complex. UConn has hosted twice prior (2007, 2008).
Baseball returns to Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio for the fourth time, co-hosted by Xavier on Memorial Day weekend, Thursday, May 26 through Sunday, May 29.
The location of the 2022 BIG EAST Softball Championship will be released at a later date. The spring Olympic Sports TV schedule will be released this winter.
For the complete list of championship dates, sites and hosts click
here.