Sorry if a similar poll was already conducted before.

The Bigeast means different things to different people because it went through a few changes.

1979-1991: Classic Bigeast period with very strong basketball and no football. Georgetown and Villanova won the NCAA basketball championship.

1991-2003: Big East Football Conference started in this period. Football was strong with addition of Miami. Basketball became weaker, though. The new members didn’t really help much either. Syracuse did win a basketball championship in 2003.

2004-2013: With departure of Miami, VT, and BC, the Bigeast football was down but still surprisingly competitive. The 16 team basketball league was considered as one of the best.

2013-present: Back to a basketball focused conference. No football and respectable basketball leauge

AAC: I am including the AAC as it’s technically a surviving entity with a new name

What would you say the best period was? I am not going to define what is the “best” since different people would have different ideas and this is just for fun.

The 1980s will always be the Golden Era of Big East basketball.

But the 2003 - 2013 era was really great in terms of results. It just lacked the cultural cohesion that the 1980s era had, a cohesion maybe no other conference ever has had.

2004-2013 Big East football had so many classic games. ‘06 Louisville/Rutgers, ‘07 Pitt/WVU, ‘09 Cincy/Pitt, etc. Basketball didn’t have the culture of the 80s but was prominent enough that the intriguing mid-late 2000s era for football carriers it to the top imo.

I would put 2013-present Big East last, no matter how good it is. A school in Omaha, NE in the Big East feels like jumping the shark.

They're all great eras.

And remember, had ESPN had its way, there would be no Big East today.

(05-22-2021 03:06 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  They're all great eras.

And remember, had ESPN had its way, there would be no Big East today.

Big East football was killed-off.

Big East basketball is doing just fine.

(05-22-2021 02:15 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  The 1980s will always be the Golden Era of Big East basketball.

But the 2003 - 2013 era was really great in terms of results. It just lacked the cultural cohesion that the 1980s era had, a cohesion maybe no other conference ever has had.

I agree with this 100%.

If a conference sent 3 teams to the Final Four today, the media would talk greatest conference of all time. There were only 9 teams in the conference. That means a third of the conference made it to the Final Four. That will never happen again.

(05-22-2021 02:25 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  I would put 2013-present Big East last, no matter how good it is. A school in Omaha, NE in the Big East feels like jumping the shark.

It's not any weirder than a team in Tampa or Miami.

(05-22-2021 04:24 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(05-22-2021 02:25 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  I would put 2013-present Big East last, no matter how good it is. A school in Omaha, NE in the Big East feels like jumping the shark.

It's not any weirder than a team in Tampa or Miami.

It’s not called the Big Northeast. Miami and Tampa are at least in the east.

(05-22-2021 04:42 PM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(05-22-2021 04:24 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(05-22-2021 02:25 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  I would put 2013-present Big East last, no matter how good it is. A school in Omaha, NE in the Big East feels like jumping the shark.

It's not any weirder than a team in Tampa or Miami.

It’s not called the Big Northeast. Miami and Tampa are at least in the east.

It's not called the Big 14, either, and the Atlantic Coast Conference has teams in Kentucky and Indiana. The Big East hasn't been a northeastern conference since 1991 or so, they just traded one outlier for another in '13 (and the new outlier is better at basketball).

I've posted multiple times that the Big East from 2005 to 2013 was my "favorite version," but that's because the league included at the time both Cincinnati and DePaul, so I'm biased. I strongly enjoyed following the league during that span.

The original Big East (which I followed fairly closely because it reminded me in some respects of both the old Metro and Great Midwest conferences, which I enjoyed) offered, as some have noted, a "tight-knit cohesiveness." Much to be said for that. However, that iteration of the league did not offer the sheer number of strong programs that the BE featured when Cincy, Louisville and Marquette (I'd like to put my DePaul Blue Demons in there but won't) came on board in 2005.

As to today's Big East, we have to be reasonable. Obviously, there is no football and Big East baseball is nowhere near as good as when the league had Miami, Louisville, VaTech, West Virginia (all good baseball programs) etc. As a long-time DePaul fan and casual fan of Georgetown, I am 100 percent fine with Creighton as a BE member (though I respect the right of some BE fans to feel CU seems an odd fit). I no longer consider the Big East a "Northeast" league in the true and full sense, so having Butler, Xavier and Creighton is 100 percent fine with me. I'm on record on this board as noting I want to see the BE add Saint Louis, Dayton and one other university (Gonzaga would be insane but that's not going to happen) to go to 14.

(05-22-2021 03:24 PM)PicksUp Wrote:  Big East football was killed-off.
Big East basketball is doing just fine.

ESPN wanted to kill off Big East basketball, too. One less TV contract to fund.

(05-22-2021 04:24 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(05-22-2021 02:25 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  I would put 2013-present Big East last, no matter how good it is. A school in Omaha, NE in the Big East feels like jumping the shark.

It's not any weirder than a team in Tampa or Miami.

Tampa or Miami are a stretch but at least hit the scale on something. Omaha has nothing in terms of northeastern fitness.

Miami is a city with a blend of northeastern culture that’s located in South Florida. The Miami-Northeast cultural distance is minimal when compared to the Omaha-Northeast cultural distance.

Tampa has less of a case than Miami, but has a sizable amount of Northeastern transplants and is at least located in the Eastern part of the US to technically fit the “Big East” title.

Omaha doesn’t hit any notes, culturally or geographically. You can spin Miami or Tampa, but there’s no way to spin Omaha.

I was in undergrad from 2006-2010 and watched a lot of college football during that period, including a lot of Big East games. If 1991-2003 was the golden age of Big East football, 2004-2012 was the silver age. WVU, Louisville, and Cincinnati proved that the Big East still had plenty of fight left despite all attempts to leave her for dead.

I had a lot of good memories of the Big East in that era. WVU’s BCS bowl win at the end of the 2005 series was pretty monumental. There was the great 3 way race between Louisville, Rutgers, and WVU in 2006. USF had their moment in the sun ranked #2. Pitt got to play spoiler to WVU’s title hopes. Even UConn had a couple good seasons in there.

(05-22-2021 06:58 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  Omaha doesn’t hit any notes, culturally or geographically. You can spin Miami or Tampa, but there’s no way to spin Omaha.

Omaha fought to get the Big East bid because they knew it was a step up from the Missouri Valley. There was some sense at the time that the Big East was open to a "western" city to support DePaul and Marquette but it was no sure deal.

Creighton lacks football but they are the #1 draw in the state for college basketball: 17,000 every night, even more than Nebraska.

(05-22-2021 06:58 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  

(05-22-2021 04:24 PM)Bogg Wrote:  

(05-22-2021 02:25 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  I would put 2013-present Big East last, no matter how good it is. A school in Omaha, NE in the Big East feels like jumping the shark.

It's not any weirder than a team in Tampa or Miami.

Tampa or Miami are a stretch but at least hit the scale on something. Omaha has nothing in terms of northeastern fitness.

Miami is a city with a blend of northeastern culture that’s located in South Florida. The Miami-Northeast cultural distance is minimal when compared to the Omaha-Northeast cultural distance.

Tampa has less of a case than Miami, but has a sizable amount of Northeastern transplants and is at least located in the Eastern part of the US to technically fit the “Big East” title.

Omaha doesn’t hit any notes, culturally or geographically. You can spin Miami or Tampa, but there’s no way to spin Omaha.

Your points, WokeUp, are valid in many respects (I agree with you largely) but a few thoughts:

* I consider Omaha "sufficiently Midwest" and the BE has a strong Midwest feel.

* Though it's true that the cities of Omaha and, say, Providence are about as different as can be, Creighton is a private Catholic university with a strong hoops fan base. There is certain "cultural fit" with the other BE programs in those respects. However, anybody who tries to spin CU as "Northeast fit" is simply wrong. I agree with you.

* With only seven schools rebuilding what eventually became today's Big East, the candidate universities, particularly those located in the Northeast, were very limited at the time. That worked to Creighton's advantage. In some respects, adding CU actually made sense (still does) due to so few choices.

Both the current Big East and the American faced challenges in their formative years, but I feel both have evolved very nicely. Neither is a comprehensive "power" conference but both bring lots of positives to the table in the overall college sports landscape. Admittedly, I'm biased toward both leagues.

(05-22-2021 09:02 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  Both the current Big East and the American faced challenges in their formative years, but I feel both have evolved very nicely. Neither is a comprehensive "power" conference but both brings lots of positives to the table in the overall college sports landscape. Admittedly, I'm biased toward both leagues.

The Big East would be stronger and more of a power conference if its three largest schools in the three largest markets (St. John's, DePaul, and Georgetown) were stronger nationally. All have significantly underperformed over the last decade (or in some cases, much longer).

I'm unashamedly biased...2004-2013. Although, based on the membership timeline I would list it as 2005-2013. In 2005, new members added made the following football and basketball leagues...

Football
Cincinnati
Connecticut
Louisville
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
South Florida
Syracuse
West Virginia

Hoops
Cincinnati
Connecticut
DePaul
Georgetown
Louisville
Marquette
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
Providence
Rutgers
Seton Hall
South Florida
St. John's
Syracuse
Villanova
West Virginia

There was no greater basketball league than that right there in terms of depth and name brands/history. The football league was just eight teams but it was a competitive, successful group. The thing I miss most about this conference was the high profile hoops games and playing our long time rivals Louisville in both hoops and football. This conference really springboarded Cincinnati's football program into what it is today. Great appreciation and memories of this Big East era...

Big East is Basketball. So the original. Current Big East is not bad. But can't vote for middle of the pack AAC, so can't vote for now.

(05-22-2021 09:50 PM)DFW HOYA Wrote:  

(05-22-2021 09:02 PM)bill dazzle Wrote:  Both the current Big East and the American faced challenges in their formative years, but I feel both have evolved very nicely. Neither is a comprehensive "power" conference but both brings lots of positives to the table in the overall college sports landscape. Admittedly, I'm biased toward both leagues.

The Big East would be stronger and more of a power conference if its three largest schools in the three largest markets (St. John's, DePaul, and Georgetown) were stronger nationally. All have significantly underperformed over the last decade (or in some cases, much longer).

To be clear, DFWHoya (and as I have noted previously on the board), I do consider the Big East a power league in men's hoops.

To be a true comprehensive power conference (and as most of us on the board agree), that league must be comprised primarily of huge state universities with large fan bases and annual athletic budgets of, say, $75 million or more. And, of course, that conference must sponsor D-I football. It also needs to win a national title in at least one of the four major team sports (football, baseball and men's and women's hoops), say, once every five years. These metrics offer reasons I don't consider either the AAC or the Big East power leagues.

I agree with you strongly on St. John's, Georgetown and DePaul. Their collective underachievement continues to hurt the Big East much like the collective underachievement of Memphis, Cincinnati and Temple is damaging the AAC.

(05-22-2021 09:54 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  I'm unashamedly biased...2004-2013. Although, based on the membership timeline I would list it as 2005-2013. In 2005, new members added made the following football and basketball leagues...

Football
Cincinnati
Connecticut
Louisville
Pittsburgh
Rutgers
South Florida
Syracuse
West Virginia

Hoops
Cincinnati
Connecticut
DePaul
Georgetown
Louisville
Marquette
Notre Dame
Pittsburgh
Providence
Rutgers
Seton Hall
South Florida
St. John's
Syracuse
Villanova
West Virginia

There was no greater basketball league than that right there in terms of depth and name brands/history. The football league was just eight teams but it was a competitive, successful group. The thing I miss most about this conference was the high profile hoops games and playing our long time rivals Louisville in both hoops and football. This conference really springboarded Cincinnati's football program into what it is today. Great appreciation and memories of this Big East era...

I appreciate your making the two lists, UCGrad1992. And I agree with you fully when you note "there was no greater basketball league than that right there in terms of depth and name brands/history."

The closest thing to that likely would be the current ACC lineup. But it is not what that iteration of the Big East was in terms of sheer depth and national brands.