From Big East To Big Least
Follow
By DERON SNYDER
The Big East’s chickens haven’t come home to roost. They’ve come back to destroy the place, ripping off the ceiling, knocking down the walls and smashing up the foundation. They’ve come home and created a shambles, just like the Big East has decimated Conference USA, twice.
As the old saying goes, what goes around can kick your behind on the return trip.
That’s happened Saturday, when Georgetown and six other “basketball centric” schools announced they’re breaking away from the fabled hoops league.
Once upon a time, the Big East was content to rank among the nation’s top men’s basketball conferences. Charter member Georgetown was the national runner-up in 1982 — just three years after the league formed — and won the title in 1984. The next season, three-quarters of the Final Four hailed from the conference, a feat no other league accomplished before or since.
By 1989, Seton Hall and Syracuse had reached Final Fours as well. Founding-member UConn joined the list in 1999, winning the first of its three national championships. But life wasn’t good enough for the Big East after the Huskies won the title in 2004.
