tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

The Big East Is Dead

Back in 1979, a new basketball conference was born called the Big East which was comprised of St. John's, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, Boston College and UCONN. Villanova joined in 1980 and Pittsburgh joined in 1982. For those of you in Western New York, Niagara University was approached to join but declined as these were all schools that the Purple Eagles played back in the day.

The Big East soon became one of the premier basketball conferences in the country. In 1984, Georgetown won the national championship by defeating Houston in the NCAA Finals. In 1985, Villanova, Georgetown and St. John's all advanced to the NCAA Final Four with Villanova pulling off the upset by defeating the defending champs. Big East basketball took a back seat to nobody.

But the Big East is a shell of what it was as this once basketball conference turned into a football controlled one which led to many defections. Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and Boston College are gone or will be gone by next season. The conference has been left to pick up schools like Tulane, Fresno State, etc. The all-eastern big city school basketball dominated conference is no more. That's why the whole thing needs to be blown up.

The Big East needs to go back to its roots by forming a conference that would be basketball schools only. How about Villanova, DePaul, Xavier, Marquette, Seton Hall, Providence, and Georgetown. Maybe see if you can poach Lasalle, Manhattan, Siena and how about St. Bonaventure and/or Niagara. A basketball only conference that would tie in Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, Milwaukee, Philadelphia and Buffalo. It could work.

The demise of the Big East falls in line with the end of the Southwest Conference, the creation of the BIG 12 and additional teams added to the ACC and BIG 10. All of this has happened because of the almighty dollar. Forget about traditional rivalries. They are a thing of the past. Now it's all about television contracts and tie ins to the bowl games and the BCS. What a shame.