A Modern Big East Football Conference

July 1st, 2013, may seem like a distant memory or a date that means very little to others. However, there is a strong argument that the course of College Football was forever changed on that day. On that fateful day, the Big East’s Catholic 7 split off from the American Conference to form the new Big East conference. At the time of the split, only three of the Catholic 7 teams had a football team. Among them are Villanova, Georgetown, and Butler, UConn, which also sponsored football, joined the American Conference in the split, but has since rejoined the Big East. The other seven Big East schools have all sponsored football in the past. So, could a Big East Conference in football work again in the modern day?

Well, to answer that question, we first must understand why the old Big East died. It was because of football. Moreover, the football-only members bullied the non-football members, which slowly destroyed the Big East. So, for us to get to the Big East Football Conference, all current and future members must be similarly minded. Which, with the current Big East schools, is much easier now, having the follies of the past to look back on. We have established the four schools with football already, with Villanova, Georgetown, Butler, and UConn. The issue is that those four play at different levels. UConn is an FBS independent, Villanova and Georgetown are a part of the FCS Patriot League, and Butler is in the non-scholarship Pioneer League in the FCS. This brings up the first dilemma. Would the Big East be an FBS or FCS conference? 

Now, while it is not unheard of for an FBS team to go down to the FCS, it is rare. As the only two recently have been Idaho in 2018 and Florida A&M in 2005. UConn might not want to at first; however, they have been on a geographical island in the FBS landscape. The closest schools to them are Boston College in the ACC, UMass in the MAC, and Army. None of those schools is looking to have anything to do with UConn in a conference. So it would seem as if the easiest thing would be for the Big East to be an FCS conference. This would make the easiest transition of the seven schools without a football team currently. 

Now, of those seven schools, all of them have a history of football. Most recently St John’s played football in 2002. Seton Hall played in 1982, Xavier in 1973, Marquette in 1960, Creighton in 1942, Providence in 1941, and DePaul in 1938. The issue for many of these schools is that the stadiums they played in no longer stand. St John’s DaSilva Memorial Field is now the site of the track team, and they are the only team in this century to play football. So now we have a fun challenge of finding stadiums for each school. 

St John’s Red Storm, Belson Stadium 2,168 Queens, New York, primary tenant St John’s Soccer

Seton Hall Pirates, Owen T Carroll Field, 1,800 South Orange, New Jersey, primary tenant Seton Hall Baseball/Soccer.

Xavier Musketeers, Corcoran Field 1,600 Cincinnati, Ohio, primary tenant Xavier Soccer.

Marquette Golden Eagles, Valley Fields 1,750, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, primary tenant Marquette Soccer.

Creighton Blue Jays, Morrison Stadium 6,000, Omaha, Nebraska, primary tenant Creighton Soccer.

Providence Friars, Chapley Field at Anderson Stadium 3,000, Providence, Rhode Island, primary tenant Providence Soccer.

DePaul Blue Demons, Wish Field 1,200, Chicago, Illinois, primary tenant DePaul Soccer/Softball.

Yes, I did just pick the soccer stadiums for each school. The conversion for such is quick and won’t cost the schools too much, unless they want to bring in some extra seating or something. Otherwise, for the most part, unless these schools wanted to play off-campus somewhere in the large metros that the schools occupy. The most financially and logically sound option is to play on campus at the soccer stadiums with slight renovations to make it more conducive to FCS Football.

As for how the scheduling would work with an 11-team league. You could have a 10-game conference schedule, or you could split it where the western schools of Creighton, Marquette, Xavier, DePaul, and Butler play each other every year, with games against the eastern branch and vice versa for a schedule. Honestly, it would be messy anyway you do it, but the 10 conference games would leave a game for FBS opponents and one non-conference game. If you wanted to get to 12 members, the list of schools that match the Big East’s makeup of basketball-focused Catholic universities is not long, but there are a few options. 

Saint Louis University in Saint Louis, Missouri, does not currently sponsor football and is a powerhouse in the mid-majors for basketball. The Billikens played their final football game in 1949. SLU is much like the rest of the Big East, a Jesuit-founded university.

Loyola University Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. The Ramblers are known for the runs they made in the NCAA Tournament in 2018 and 2021. Loyola is a Jesuit-founded university. Ramblers football stopped playing in 1930. 

Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. While the Terriers aren’t the strongest when it comes to basketball, they excel at another sport that the Big East has a mild interest in. Hockey. BU has made it to the Frozen Four the last three years and has five national championships in hockey. Boston had a football team play until 1997 at Nickerson Field, which is still used by the university. Unlike the rest of the Big East, Boston University is a Methodist-founded university. 

So that is how Big East Football would look today. A mess of 11 schools, with 7 of which would be starting back up football teams. Unlikely this will ever happen, but who knows in this crazy college sports world we live in.