BIG EAST Conference History
The BIG EAST Conference
Building on its storied history, the BIG EAST Conference continues to position itself to perform at the highest national level.
The 2025-26 academic year will mark the 13th since the BIG EAST Conference returned to its basketball-centric heritage in institutional membership. The academic and athletic accomplishments over the previous 12 years have shown that the BIG EAST continues to be a national leader in collegiate athletics.
Since the league's reconfiguration in 2013, the BIG EAST has established itself as one of the nation's elite conferences. It has developed a strong, clear identity rooted in authenticity and reflective of its member schools and their shared values. This is embodied by a league-wide commitment to sustained DE&I efforts, mental health programming and career development, among many other deep-rooted initiatives.
Conference Leadership
Dynamic leadership has been a staple of the BIG EAST throughout its history.
Val Ackerman, who previously served as founding President of the WNBA, President of USA Basketball and U.S. representative to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), was named the BIG EAST's fifth Commissioner in 2013. Under her leadership, the BIG EAST has maintained its reputation for achievement at the highest levels and has continued its influence on the national collegiate landscape, with numerous conference and campus administrators currently serving on important NCAA committees.
Ackerman is one of the few sports executives who has held leadership positions in both men's and women's sports at the collegiate, professional, national team and international level. In 2021, she was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The BIG EAST grew to 11 members in 2020. The University of Connecticut, a member of the conference from 1979 to 2013, was readmitted. UConn has brought a rich history of academic and athletic excellence, especially in the sport of basketball. Since rejoining, the Huskies' men's program won its fifth and sixth national championships, capturing the NCAA crown in both 2023 and 2024. The UConn women's program lifted the trophy for the 12th time in program history in 2025, and the ninth time as a BIG EAST member. The Huskies have maintained unparalleled national success, advancing to the Final Four in 16 of the last 17 years and have appeared in 25 Final Fours overall.
The BIG EAST has produced 16 national champions over the past 11 academic years. Nine BIG EAST teams have captured national titles, including four in men's basketball. BIG EAST student-athletes have won national championships in six individual events.
History
Founded in 1979 by Dave Gavitt, the former Providence men's basketball coach and athletic director, the BIG EAST Conference became a reality in May of 1979. Providence, St. John's, Georgetown, Syracuse, Seton Hall, Connecticut and Boston College formed the original seven-school alliance, and the conference became an immediate national power in men's basketball. While the composition of the BIG EAST has evolved, the focus of its schools has not changed, reflecting a tradition of emphasizing academic strength and fair play.
In December of 2012, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova announced their intention to separate from the conference's FBS football-playing schools and form an independent association. The seven schools reached an agreement to retain the BIG EAST name and assume the conference's long-term pact with Madison Square Garden to host the BIG EAST Men's Basketball Tournament. The schools also announced the addition of three distinguished institutions — Butler, Creighton and Xavier — and forged a landmark, long-term broadcast partnership with FOX Sports. The new era officially began on July 1, 2013.
Academic Excellence, Community Service
Outside of the arenas and playing fields, the BIG EAST has always adhered to an unwavering commitment to academic integrity, athletic excellence and community service while offering opportunities to help student-athletes to reach their potential as students, athletes and leaders.
In the summer of 2020, the conference launched "BE the Change," a conference-wide advocacy platform that enables BIG EAST stakeholders to engage on a range of contemporary racial and social justice issues. The "BE the Change" initiative continues in 2025-26.
Also in 2020, the BIG EAST created a partnership with RISE, a leading provider of educational programming that equips sports leaders to create positive change on racism, social justice and equality issues.
In 2014 the conference established BIG EAST Serves to align with the service missions of the member institutions. Initiatives housed under the BIG EAST Serves umbrella, the BIG EAST Career Consortium and the national partnership with the It's On Us campaign against campus sexual assaults, reflect the conference's commitment to developing the complete BIG EAST student-athlete and making a positive contribution to campus communities. The BIG EAST regularly hosts a Well Being Forum to help provide institutional personnel with information, insights and basic training so they can better support the mental and physical health of their student-athletes.
Commissioner Ackerman and the BIG EAST have taken a leadership role in Sport at the Service of Humanity, an initiative created by the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Culture to focus on how sport and faith can drive positive social change. Ackerman was a delegate at the inaugural Vatican conference and has served on an advisory committee to develop the framework and content for the initiative.
BIG EAST in the Media
The BIG EAST has been lauded as a longstanding leader in innovative concepts, particularly television, and that reputation continues as evidenced by the conference's relationship with FOX Sports. The BIG EAST has enjoyed a successful multi-year partnership with FOX Sports and its national cable network FS1.
Over the summer of 2024, the BIG EAST finalized a new six-year media rights agreement that will ensure that the league maintains its position as one of the most televised conferences in all of college athletics. FOX Sports, the BIG EAST's television partner for the last 11 years, will continue as the conference's lead network provider, with NBC Sports and TNT Sports also providing comprehensive BIG EAST basketball coverage per the new agreement.
BIG EAST institutions are located in eight of the nation's 38 largest media markets, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Indianapolis, Hartford/New Haven, Cincinnati and Milwaukee.
FOX Sports will feature at least 70 BIG EAST men's and women's basketball contests across the regular season and postseason beginning in 2025-26. In addition, the FOX broadcast network will remain the home of the BIG EAST Men's Tournament through 2031.
NBC Sports and Peacock will present over 40 men's regular season games during the 2025-26 season. For the second consecutive year, Peacock will be the home for five early-round and quarterfinal matchups from the BIG EAST Tournament. 25 women's games will also be featured on Peacock, including all 10 of the conference's women's basketball tournament games.
TNT Sports will feature nearly 60 regular season men's basketball games - including 30 in BIG EAST play. TNT will also feature 15 regular season women's basketball games, including 14 league-play matchups. TNT will serve as its primary network, along with truTV, during the 2025-26 season - the first year of the new, comprehensive broadcast partnership between TNT Sports and the BIG EAST Conference.
ESPN and the BIG EAST Conference have announced a new six-year digital media rights agreement, adding hundreds of live BIG EAST events to ESPN's robust college sports portfolio. A minimum of 75 women's basketball and 200 Olympic sports events will stream on ESPN+ annually beginning in the 2025-26 academic season. This deal will also include a minimum of 25 non-conference games annually for BIG EAST men's basketball.
Conference and National Championships
The conference crowns champions in 22 sports. Men's basketball teams have earned 50 NCAA invitations in ten tournaments since 2014, averaging five per season.
BIG EAST men's basketball programs have enjoyed extraordinary success. UConn has captured NCAA Championship crowns in 2024, 2023, 2014, 2011, 2004 and 1999. Villanova has won national titles in 2018, 2016 and 1985. Georgetown and Marquette also have won the national championship. Butler, DePaul, Providence, St. John's and Seton Hall have all reached the Final Four. The BIG EAST placed three men's basketball teams in the 1985 Final Four — Georgetown, St. John's and Villanova — still the only occurrence in NCAA history.
The BIG EAST has achieved recent success in other sports as well. The Georgetown men's soccer team won the 2019 NCAA title. A BIG EAST team has won the NCAA women's cross country championship in four of the last 13 years. Georgetown's women's soccer team reached the College Cup in 2018 and 2016. In men's soccer, Creighton (2022) and Georgetown (2021) have played in the College Cup recently. UConn has won three national field hockey championships in nine years. Liberty, an affiliate member in field hockey, was the national runner-up in 2021. Denver, an affiliate member in men's lacrosse, won the NCAA crown in 2015, and reached the final four in 2024.
In the 46 years since the original league opened its doors, BIG EAST teams have won 45 national championships in eight different sports with 146 student-athletes winning individual national titles.