PROVIDENCE – It’s only fitting that the Big East is hosting a party in this town tonight.
Forty years ago today – May 29, 1979 – the Big East was born. After extensive meetings in Providence led by Providence College athletic director Dave Gavitt, the athletic directors of seven schools announced they were pulling out of the ECAC and forming a new conference.
The release, written by future commissioner Mike Tranghese, states that “the new league brings together seven nationally prominent teams that are committed to producing the best basketball league in the East. Over the last 10 years the seven schools have qualified on 24 occasions for the NCAA basketball championship.