This Changed EVERYTHING for College Football... (The Fall of the Big East Football Conference)

The Big East conference will always have a place in my heart. As a kid growing up in New Jersey, my home school Rutgers competed in the conference and made waves in the conference as I was growing up. I remember going to Rutgers against USF, UConn, and other games like that. It was a BCS automatic qualifier and reigned supreme in the Northeast portion of the country. The conference seemed unbreakable throughout the 2000s, or so it seemed. But when conference realignment reared its ugly head, the cracks within the conference were shown as the conference began to collapse. This collapse would change everything for college football. In this video I go over a brief history of the Big East conference and what caused the football portion of the conference to collapse.
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[@EmbracetheGrind]

What caused the demise of the Big East?

[@Austin_Niepołomice]

The dumbasses who care about football. BE is better without em and this ain't a demise we are seeing stability in our conference. Only thing football brings now is a loss of rivalries and tradition.

[@newyorknole2225]

Deez nuts

[@twalker191]

Probably not doing everything to keep Miami & Virginia Tech. You could’ve kept building a stronger conference around those brands. Once you lost Miami, you didn’t have a revenue driving program.

[@danieldepaolo3012]

Not taking the ESPN deal, exactly the same as the Pac-12 demise. Universities aren't supposed to "go to the open market", we're talking about universities. Just take the money and serve your student athletes.

[@alextabor95]

Greed

[@patrickn8355]

As a cincinnati fan, it really is crazy to think about the fact we've been in 4 conferences in the last like 20 years. CUA, BigEast, American and now B12. I'll always have a deep love for the big east and the rivalries we had with pitt and wvu.

[@EmbracetheGrind]

It will be fun to watch them play WVU in the Big 12 and revive that rivalry

[@CatsClaw44]

Me too. That was the first time we were in a legit power conference and in the end likely got us into the Big 12.

[@CatsClaw44]

​@@EmbracetheGrindThat was starting to become a legit and fun rivalry in the Big East.

[@somedudenamedryan]

As a Rutgers fan, I'm still pissed off at you guys for derailing the 07 season... I miss our old big east rivalries man

[@jasonvoorhees6416]

Not adding Penn state was the biggest mistake ever

[@stevengarman4848]

Yes, Penn State has always been the biggest football school in the Northeast !

[@EmbracetheGrind]

Its crazy to think how different things could have been had they added Penn State

[@billgill82]

@@EmbracetheGrind that was the conference's biggest mistake. So Penn State went to the Big Ten, agreed top in '89 but did not play until '93. Why Penn St even schedule's Villanova in anything is insane.

[@MrGrombie]

Big East has a chance to get Penn State? And they didn't? 🤣

[@stevengarman4848]

@@MrGrombie Yep, what a blunder.

[@christopherwebb3517]

The only reason the Big East decided to add football was to keep their existing FBS football independent schools from being forced to leave and find homes for their football teams (the changing landscape made football independence no longer viable for most schools). And it worked...for a while. So by adding football, the Big East kept Boston College, Syracuse, and Pitt for 10 to 20 years longer than they otherwise would have, they made a lot of football money in the meantime, and the new Big East essentially ended up in the same spot that the old Big East would have been by the mid-90s had they not added football.

[@EmbracetheGrind]

I think you are 100% correct it was just sad to see how it fell apart. There were so many fun memories from the conference at least from my childhood that made me the college football fan I am today

[@marcus813]

The Metro Conference was looking at adding a football wing and BC, Cuse and Pitt were among its targets.

[@saewonyi]

As a Rutgers alum, the Big East will always have a special place in my heart and to be honest, I wish the Big East survived. It was a fun conference, the rivalies were real and deepening with each passing year. I sometimes imagine what the perfect Big East conference would look like and when put down, man what an amazing conference it would've been, especially if Penn State were in. Big East 2024 Rutgers Penn State Pitt West Virginia Miami VTech BC UConn Syracuse Cincinnati Louisville South Florida Temple

[@luketurko8054]

Original targets were BC Miami and Syracuse. VT was in lawsuit with others against ACC. Then state officials in VA pressured UVA to push for VaTech as a target. So Syracuse got left out the first time teams were poached.

[@EmbracetheGrind]

Its wild how times have changed that schools don't want their other in-state universities joining their conference because of recruitment purposes.

[@luketurko8054]

@@EmbracetheGrind Yea I wonder if it was the school or politicians getting involved. I know WVU played Marshall in the "Friends of Coal Bowl" for a while because the governor of the state pushed for it.

[@WDB2005]

They should’ve just made an AAC conference full of the best of the G5 and the less fortunate P5 schools (Rutgers, Louisville, West Virginia, Cincinnati)

[@wiggz2254]

Even i don't understand why WVU is in the BigXII never made sense to me imo

[@LymetimeProductions]

Louisville in the Big XII and WVU in the ACC would have always made more sense. Louisville being a CST school and WVU in the EST always felt weird

[@marcus813]

Louisville is in the same time zone as West Virginia. The Central Time Zone is a bit west of Louisville.

[@LymetimeProductions]

@@marcus813still don't feel like the right fits

[@pitchshot2868]

ACC will never take WVU no matter what?

[@FourthDown]

the Big East was fun man

[@EmbracetheGrind]

I have so many great memories from the conference throughout my childhood

[@PENS68]

The Big East football conference will always hold a special place in me as a Pitt fan. Growing up in Western PA, I always thought the Big East was very underrated in football and I still miss it to this day. I really really miss Pitt in the Big East in basketball just playing in the Big East Tournament at MSG, there was just no other feeling.

[@marcus813]

USF alum here. I was so excited when the old BIG EAST took us out of Conference USA, which we were a charter member of (there's an interesting story there, too). Seeing the league fall apart broke my heart. The old conference's dynamic wasn't sustainable and the Catholic 7 got sick of it and formed a new league with the BIG EAST name so they could be free from the many football-related changes. The American, the old conference's legal successor (same structure and charter) has thrived while being below the power conference structure, but it's just not the same.

[@ScopePalmer]

Love all the rutgers highlights

[@kylewalker641]

Something I thought I would never see, a New Jersey sports fan...and I have a partner who grew up right down the street from Rutgers!

[@dpc0809]

As a Syracuse fan that moved to State College I used to think it was the worst mistake ever when Penn State didn't get into the Big East or Joe Paterno's All East conference was never formed. In hindsight it's clear that Penn State would have left for the Big Ten sooner or later for the money. It's likely too that Syracuse wouldn't have seen the success it had in the Big East with a powerhouse like Penn State in the league. For Penn State, I'd bet that they would have had more national championship runs if they were in the Big East as opposed to the Big Ten. Seeing them match up against Miami each year would have been a treat.

[@deanzaZZR]

I am always surprised that Boston College got an invitation to the ACC before Syracuse and Pitt. Or maybe Syracuse and Pitt turned an offer down at that point?

[@Itsnoahscott]

The Big East I remember was… Louisville Cincinnati Connecticut West Virginia Syracuse South Florida Pittsburgh Rutgers

[@Nick-s5q]

It’s sucks because WVU and Cincy were quickly becoming national powers and USF Louisville Syracuse and Pitt all had multiple years of high level success had multiple successful seasons in their history and even UConn and Rutgers was starting get their programs together but then the conference got the rug pulled out from under them and none of these programs have been the same since

[@Itsnoahscott]

@@Nick-s5q Louisville might be coming back because of Jeff Brohm but we’ll see he had a good first season.

[@UniteAgainstEvil]

That night in Rutgers... probably the worst day in Louisville football history up to this point... that loss kept us out of the national championship, the closest we've ever gotten in football 😢

[@somedudenamedryan]

Yep. and then we had a legitimate path to a BCS bowl game and maybe even a natty chance after beating Louisville...and we fucked it up against Cincy 😭 Man the big east was special that year.

[@OSIRIS1980WHS]

I had an idea for a northeastern all sport collegiate conference but discussed it over beers with collegiate friends - I was co-sports editor of my college paper - when I should had knocked on doors at ESPN and PSU, PITT, WV, SY, BC, RU, and TEMPLE.

[@samsnyder4433]

As a WVU fan I can’t wait to watch the ACC disintegrate over the next couple of years… none of the BIG East teams who left for the ACC are better off for it… sad… the BIG East was fun

[@robertc9232]

Did not West Virginia wanted in the ACC but the ACC said no?

[@jasoncampbell5379]

The big east was fun but I believe they caused their own problems. A half football and half not conference was dumb. Also Miami and VT are so much better off now

[@PENS68]

@@robertc9232that is correct WVU tried to join the ACC, when Syracuse and Pitt announced their intent to leave but I did hear they got rejected

[@michelleweintraub945]

I think the only team that is better off with the Big East falling apart was Rutgers. They won the realignment lottery by being in the New York media market, now they get to laugh all the way to the bank at the other former Big East schools.

[@pitchshot2868]

@@robertc9232 correct

[@MarkJensen-e8d]

The failure in my opinion is 2 factors at play. First- Greed. No need for an explanation. Second- The Bowl System, the BCS system, and the need for a "college football champion." Prior to the BCS, students were content with wanting to go to the Rose Bowl and have a Pac10 team face a Big TEN team every year, OR the Sugar/ Cotton/ Orange bowls. With the BCS, it changed the focus on the regional New Years 6 bowls to national implications and just debates of "who was a better team, etc..." and teams constantly being left off the table. I think what has showed with the College Football playoff has been an emphasis on how many teams a conference can get into the fight. To me the best and easiest solution has and shall ever be EQUAL entry into the College Football play off with the return of regional conferences (yes, the Big East and Pac10 returning). Then merging and combining all conferences into 8 regional conferences. To make things equitable among all teams, the NCAA will control all the TV rights and all 8 conferences get an equal share of the revenues. The college football playoff starts at 16 teams with each conference championship being between the top 2 best programs, and the winner advancing so and so forth. This returns football back to its rivalry, it will force the balance of power back into an equal footing, and then you don't have a situation for the top 2 conferences are fighting for the most seedings in the College football playoff.

[@pitchshot2868]

The old Big east had a terrible commissioner. Forget his name but somewhat like the guy running the ACC and PAC 12

[@jeffreywhitlock4882]

Same thing is about to happen to the ACC with FSU and Clemson. Once they leave, Miami, UNC, NC State, UVA and VA Tech will want out.

[@EmbracetheGrind]

It will be interesting to see how things play out over the next few years

[@josephcernansky1794]

The rejection of Penn State that wanted to form an ALL-sports conference and sponsor football KILLED the Big East...and now? Those same Big Least schools that The Carolina Basketball Conference out of Tobacco Road that threw them a lifeline are going to be the CAUSE of the demise of the ACC!! At least partially to blame since they are NOT the FOOTBALL schools that MAKE THE MONEY for the conference. The Big Least voted to exclude Penn State back in the early 80's because for the very few times CFB was on TV and the few Bowl games there were then, Penn State would be making the Lion's Share of the money and expected to be compensated more for doing so. Same deal still going on with those schools with basketballs stuck up their ass! And FSU and Clemson finally saw what they are worth and how they are funding all the deadbeats! Let The Basketball Conference die! They deserve what little they get. They may be worth $10M to $15M at best. At the least they aren't even worth a million!

[@PENS68]

The issue with FBS and Non-FBS members is what did the Big East in eventually. It worked for a while, but last decade college athletics was changing and when realignment started when Nebraska announced they would join the Big 10 in June of 2010, it started the domino effect.

[@stevec9704]

As a USF alum I miss the BE and this was when all the cards fell for CFB and where we are now. Sad.

[@EmbracetheGrind]

I have plans to do a video on the 2007 USF team coming out in the next week or two

[@marcus813]

I'm also a USF alum and I hated seeing the old BIG EAST fall apart like it did.

[@aBrewster29]

Oh, man. I forgot about the TV deal. From the MWC perspective at the time, the leagues had parity but opposite legacy positions, and the MWC’s tv deal was just awful. From that viewpoint the Big East rejection of ESPN’s offer seemed ludicrous.

[@brandonconforto315]

I understand you were probably too young to remember but the Big East football had its golden years in the late '90s and early 2000s with McNabbs Syracuse, Vicks Hokies and then you had the Miami Hurricanes teams of the early 2000s. At one point you could argue it was a top 3 conference in college football at that time. Once VT, MIA and BC(who had some good teams under Tom O’Brien) left the conference became very mediocre. They did have some good teams in the 2006 and 2007 season but once Rich Rod left WVU is when the conference really dropped off.

[@Mr.G360]

Rutgers was asked to join the Big East when the league was originally formed, but declined to follow Penn State in a league. Seton Hall took Rutgers place. The rest is history as Rutgers sports went downhill from there. Rutgers belongs in the Big Ten, with other large state public research universities. When the Big Ten finally starts paying Rutgers a full share of conference revenue in 2027 (what a joke) Rutgers football can start putting up some wins

[@joeylawn36111]

On the thumbnail, whose logo is the one between Pittburgh's and Syracuse? CREEPY.

[@jasonmatney5090]

That’s Cincinnati Bearcats I believe.

[@newyorknole2225]

Did Boston College even get mentioned as a member of the Big East? They left with Miami(FL) and VT

[@EmbracetheGrind]

I may have forgotten to mention their departure

[@newyorknole2225]

@@EmbracetheGrind don't worry I also forget about Boston College unless TV revenue comes up in conversation.

[@TheDisruptiveOne]

Boston College is the biggest dead weight in the acc. And it is not close.

[@newyorknole2225]

@@TheDisruptiveOne I wish it was JUST Boston College. Wake Forest is actually the worst in terms of revenue. Even during the last few seasons where they were actually very good, they barely moved the needle

[@RogerBates7]

​@@TheDisruptiveOneand BC is the reason UConn isn't in the ACC. Obviously that's a plus in football, but imagine what that could've added to that conference on the basketball side. BC, meanwhile, is adding nothing to the conference. Sad.

[@slimphotog]

Northeast teams that played each other from the '50s included Maryland, Penn State, Rutgers, West Virginia, Syracuse, Pitt, Boston College, UBuffalo. Add Cincinnati, Louisville, UConn. That hits decent TV markets except Philly. Is that the conference Paterno wanted?

[@DrBeauHightower]

Chasm is pronounced ka·zm

[@EricBurns-d4o]

The Big East was the second best Power 6 conference until money ruined everything

[@CatsClaw44]

You forgot Cincinnati rising up to #3

[@wadekays2536]

Good video

[@misconstrued7671]

My buddies are super shocked about all these realignments going on today. I tell them every time when the Big East went under is where it all started going downhill.

[@noynoybaqui]

No mention of Miami’s national championships?? That 2001 Miami team was stacked

[@kylethomas2993]

Don't forget Butler too

[@mintberrycrunch1752]

As a Creighton basketball fan, I find it weird that we are in the Big East still because the schools you talked about still seem much more Big and East than us lol

[@EmbracetheGrind]

It is so wild to me that everytime i see the big east logo on their court I forget they are playing in Nebraska

[@mintberrycrunch1752]

@@EmbracetheGrind i wish the big east couldve found a way to split into a basketball and a football conference without destroying the cohesiveness that was the big east football conference

[@marcus813]

Your Blue Jays are why the current BIG EAST entity skews much further west than the original conference did. Weird, no?

[@TheMimic12]

Creighton made sense, along with Xavier and Butler, to get an even 10 member league with the Catholic 7

[@Joshua-uw7wm]

I hate what has become of college football except for the transfer portal and letting the players get paid however they have managed to fu*k that up too

[@EmbracetheGrind]

failure at the leadership level

[@jamesbusald7097]

Why do regions quit having an interest in college football? Irrelevance. If you make a region irrelevant to all college football questions you lose the fans in that region. Northeast is gone. The west coast is following fast.

[@EmbracetheGrind]

It is sad to see how the college football landscape is changing. Even before the fall of the Pac-12 the West coast was at a disadvantage because of the time zones as well.

[@jamesasmith2494]

@@EmbracetheGrind I totally agree. The Pacific time zone is so late. By that time I have already watched 2 - 3 games. And that is all I have time to watch.

[@josephcernansky1794]

West Coast was losing fans decades ago. THAT is why they weren't worth even $30M per team! Low interest among fans. Even in their backyard! When Cheat ...I mean Pete Carrol...was at USC and they were contending for MNC...USC never had above 90% season average attendance at their stadium that was shrinking in capacity for ~90K to now at 77.5K. And still can't get fans to fill it. UCLA was as horrible as sPitt!! Not counting media revenue, in 2022, UCLA generated $54M, Rutgers generated $57.5 million. UCLA is 16th in the B1G behind #15 Rutgers!! THAT is WHY the PAC collapsed!

[@WolverineIncognito]

You pronounced “chasm” wrong.

[@nj2mddude205]

So what you're saying is the Big East needed a ringer (Penn State). Look what that's done to the ACC (Florida State). The problem with both conferences is that the majority of the schools didn't treat football as a religion as they do at Penn State, Florida State and the other legacy football powers.

[@davidwilliams4498]

I remember it well an it ticked me off especially when Texas big 12 Oliver luck an holgerson took WV to big 12 where we never ever belonged. This was the 1st mega conference that was set up so ACC could have 2 divisions an a champ game for football an more tv money for all sports. Big East still ok in basketball though was raped of most football teams. Hearing all this talk ACC is in trouble. They aren't. They are stuck. I don't see any changes to ACC anytime soon. Door mats like Boston college Syracuse an somewhat now Louisville I'm sure wished like WV they were still in big east.

[@garygrassler09]

The big East from 1991-2003 was the best

[@jasonvoorhees6416]

I got 2 bills on Rutgers

[@PocahontasSportsChannel]

I want 2005 wvu back

[@DR_X69]

This has so many parallels to the PAC 12.

[@lastpme]

This sounds a lot like the PAC 12 situation that caused its downfall….

[@johnnyporter847]

I miss big East wvu playing Miami university, Penn state big mistake not letting them in the league! Was rumored Florida State think about big east! East Carolina had very good win against of league they beat Miami university one time like vtech Syracuse wvu and the rest of league! I really don’t go to game no more mountaineer stadium I do not like the big12!

[@robertc9232]

Great East Football League Pennsylvania State Rutgers Pittsburgh Syracuse Boston College West Virginia Virginia Tech Connecticut South Carolina Florida State Miami-FL

[@williamvance2817]

I'd add Maryland to thar list as well because they use to regularly play those teams on your list. Maybe add Louisville or Cincinnati to even it out, maybe since we are talking fantasy here Notre Dame

[@Joshua-uw7wm]

I can still remember calling in to radio sports talk show and said that the big 10 and the big east should combine to be a new conference called the big joke 😅 good times

[@EmbracetheGrind]

Miss the days of calling into the radio and hearing other sports fans takes. Trying to set something up like that with this channel down the road

[@720cm5]

ACC is the new BIG EAST

[@MattLindon-wv8jy]

HARD DISAGREE.... The Big East really stopped being relevant when Miami and VT left. There were a few good seasons, but in most years what the Big East really did was rob NY6 bowls from clearly superior G5 Teams.

[@MattLindon-wv8jy]

@stewdge Beating #16 Clemson 70-33, still doesnt mean you should have made a NY6 bowl over a 12-1 #6 Boise State....heck BSU beat #15 Georgia 35-14 in Atlanta in OOC that season. But to be fair WVU had more legitimacy than many of the Big East teams that made it. The fact that the Poinsetta bowl featured two higher ranked teams 3 times than both teams in the Orange Bowl is ridiculous. And of course theres the war crime of putting 8-5 Uconn in the Fiesta Bowl in 2010, when 6 G5 teams outranked them.

[@CatsClaw44]

You're wrong and clearly lack intelligence.

[@CatsClaw44]

​@@MattLindon-wv8jyAgain, you're proving that you're not very bright.

[@samsnyder4433]

WVU thumped Georgia and Clemson as a Big East Champ … lol… what planet are you living on

[@MattLindon-wv8jy]

@@samsnyder4433 WVU ranked #23 in the country, lost 3 games and got DESTROYED by a 5-7 Syracuse by 26, yet made a NY6 bowl over the #6 team in the country with the #1 ranked offense whose sole loss of the season was by 1 single point on a last second FG to a 11-2 Top 15 team. Does that really sound logical to you? Listen ill give you 05 and 07; but ffs Boise State got insanely screwed in 2010 and 2011 and its not even close.

[@slibertas1996]

Notre Dame is coming to the Big 10. Big East would’ve been acceptable though.

[@EmbracetheGrind]

If the ACC falls apart they may it will be interesting to see. I hope so because it will revive some old school rivalries.

[@josephcernansky1794]

The Notre Dame Football Conference is expanding...to include Navy, Boston College, Stanford and as many MAC schools as possible. They need all the help they can get to remain undefeated and get a chance to get an invite to the CFB playoff.

[@marcus813]

Once the ACC's GOR runs its course, it's possible with the B1G expanding to the East Coast, where Notre Dame always seems to cast its gaze.

[@ericveneto1593]

It’s pronounced K-asm

[@cheronecom]

it isn't pronounced "chasms"