College Football - Big East Conference
History - Important facts - Teams - Winners
History
Since it began, the Big East has been a national power, both on and off the field. In 1991 the Big East Conference's entrance into football was announced. The league gained instant notice and credibility with its level of excellence on the field and with its television and bowl relationships.
The Big East has been a charter member of each of the major bowl agreements with the major conferences, beginning with the Bowl Coalition in 1992 followed by The Bowl Alliance in 1995.
The Big East obtained immediate legitimacy as a football conference with the addition of the powerhouse Miami program. The same eight teams competed in the league from its inception until Miami and Virginia Tech joined the ACC.
The
University of Connecticut joined the Big East football league, all in 2004.
In July 2005 a major realignment occurred as Boston College also joined to the ACC, football-only member Temple once again became an independent, and Louisville, Cincinnati, and South Florida all officially joined the Big East conference. DePaul and Marquette also joined at this time as non-football members.
The Big East has had two teams play for national championships during its short existence. Miami won nine of the league's first thirteen championships and in 1991 and 2001 they won the national championship dominating the league at the beginning and end of its short time in the Big East. Tech appeared in the 2000 Sugar Bowl BCS championship game, where they were defeated 46-29 by Florida State.
Of the four charter members continuing in the conference, three of them have finished first in the league, although one of them did not share in a league title until 2004. In 2004, there was a four-way tie for the league title between Pittsburgh, West Virginia University, Syracuse, and departing Boston College; Pittsburgh won the tiebreaker to earn the league's BCS bid.
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