{"id":151431,"date":"2019-06-27T11:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-06-27T15:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=151431"},"modified":"2019-06-28T09:33:25","modified_gmt":"2019-06-28T13:33:25","slug":"uconn-returns-big-east-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2019\/06\/uconn-returns-big-east-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"UConn Returns to Big East Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Big East Conference announced today that the University of Connecticut will rejoin the conference as a full member, with the year of entry to be determined at a later date. One of seven original members of the Conference, Connecticut competed as a Big East school for the first 34 years of the Conference\u2019s existence, beginning in 1979-80 and continuing through 2012-13. The announcement was made at a press conference at Madison Square Garden in New York City.<\/p>\n

Connecticut\u2019s membership was authorized by the unanimous vote of all 10 Big East presidents. On Wednesday, UConn’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to accept the Big East’s invitation.<\/p>\n

The addition of UConn will increase the number of full members in the Big East to 11 institutions. The University currently competes in the American Athletic Conference.<\/p>\n

\"UConn<\/a>
UConn trustee Denis Nayden '76 (BUS) '78 MBA, left, David Benedict, athletic director, Dan Hurley, men's basketball head coach, Geno Auriemma, women's basketball head coach, and Tom Katsouleas, president designate, watch a video during an event at Madison Square Garden announcing UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
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UConn trustee Denis Nayden '76 (BUS) '78 MBA, left, David Benedict, athletic director, Dan Hurley, men's basketball head coach, Geno Auriemma, women's basketball head coach, and Tom Katsouleas, president designate, watch a video during an event at Madison Square Garden announcing UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"David<\/a>
David Benedict, athletic director, left, and President Susan Herbst, speak with Joel Fisher, MSG executive director of marquee events and operations, before a press event held at Chase Square at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan to announce UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
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David Benedict, athletic director, left, and President Susan Herbst, speak with Joel Fisher, MSG executive director of marquee events and operations, before a press event held at Chase Square at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan to announce UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Val<\/a>
Val Ackerman, Big East commissioner, speaks at the event announcing UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
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Val Ackerman, Big East commissioner, speaks at the event announcing UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"UConn's<\/a>
UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference was announced at an event held at Chase Square at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
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UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference was announced at an event held at Chase Square at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"President<\/a>
President Susan Herbst, left, and Val Ackerman, Big East commissioner, hold up a jersey marking the announcement of UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
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President Susan Herbst, left, and Val Ackerman, Big East commissioner, hold up a jersey marking the announcement of UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"President<\/a>
President Susan Herbst, right, speaks at the event announcing UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference, as Val Ackerman, Big East commissioner, looks on. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
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President Susan Herbst, right, speaks at the event announcing UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference, as Val Ackerman, Big East commissioner, looks on. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"From<\/a>
From left, Dan Hurley, men's basketball head coach, left, Jonathan the Husky, President Susan Herbst, Val Ackerman, Big East commissioner, Geno Auriemma, women's basketball head coach, and David Benedict, athletic director, pose for a photo with Jonathan XIV at an event held at Madison Square Garden to announce UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
BigEast190627a462<\/div>
From left, Dan Hurley, men's basketball head coach, left, Jonathan the Husky, President Susan Herbst, Val Ackerman, Big East commissioner, Geno Auriemma, women's basketball head coach, and David Benedict, athletic director, pose for a photo with Jonathan XIV at an event held at Madison Square Garden to announce UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Jonathan<\/a>
Jonathan the Husky, left, and Jonathan XIV pose for a photo, while President Susan Herbst, Joel Fisher of MSG, and Val Ackerman, commissioner of the Big East look on, following an event announcing UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
BigEast190627a537<\/div>
Jonathan the Husky, left, and Jonathan XIV pose for a photo, while President Susan Herbst, Joel Fisher of MSG, and Val Ackerman, commissioner of the Big East look on, following an event announcing UConn's return to the Big East athletic conference on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Jonathan<\/a>
Jonathan XIV leaves Madison Square Garden after the event. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
BigEast190627a577<\/div>
Jonathan XIV leaves Madison Square Garden after the event. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div>\"Jonathan<\/a>
Jonathan the Husky and Jonathan XIV pose for a photo near a marquee welcoming UConn back to the Big East athletic conference outside Madison Square Garden on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div>
BigEast190627a683<\/div>
Jonathan the Husky and Jonathan XIV pose for a photo near a marquee welcoming UConn back to the Big East athletic conference outside Madison Square Garden on June 27, 2019. (Peter Morenus\/UConn Photo)<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

\u201cOn the 40th anniversary of our founding in 1979, we\u2019re very excited to welcome back the University of Connecticut, a Big East charter member,\u201d said Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman. \u201cAs a group of schools rooted in basketball pre-eminence, we can think of no better partner than UConn to join us in perpetuating the rivalries, traditions, and successes that have made the Big East unlike any other conference in college basketball. We know that our competitions and the experiences of our student-athletes, coaches, and supporters across all of our sports will be greatly enriched by UConn\u2019s return.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Big East is an incredibly special and enduring part of our heritage,\u201d said UConn President Susan Herbst. \u201cWe were a founding member 40 years ago. Our programs grew and thrived in this conference over decades. The intensity of the competition, the passion of our rivalries, and all of our most triumphant wins and toughest losses helped to make us who we are. Coming back here means UConn is coming home. We are excited about the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

The University of Connecticut has an enrollment of more than 30,000 students and currently sponsors 24 sports. The Huskies will participate in 20 of the Big East\u2019s 22 sports.<\/p>\n

The Big East recently marked the 40th anniversary of its founding, which dates back to May 29, 1979.\u00a0 As one of the Conference\u2019s founding members, UConn enjoyed significant athletic successes over more than three decades of Big East competition, including 80 conference championship titles across all sports.<\/p>\n

The Huskies were especially successful in men\u2019s and women\u2019s basketball during their previous run in the Big East. As a member school, the men\u2019s basketball program won 10 regular season titles and seven Big East Tournament championships, in addition to national titles in 1999, 2004, and 2011. The UConn women\u2019s basketball program has won or shared 19 Big East regular season titles and captured 18 Big East Tournament crowns, including 16 titles over a 19 year span (1994-2012). The women\u2019s program also earned eight of its 11 national championships as a Big East school.<\/p>\n

Connecticut\u2019s field hockey program has remained an associate member of the Big East following the Conference\u2019s membership reconfiguration in 2013. The Huskies have won the league\u2019s field hockey championship in each of the past seven years, and have earned 18 overall conference titles as a Big East member, highlighted by three national championships in the past six years. The UConn women\u2019s lacrosse team also participated in the Big East as an associate member through 2017-18.<\/p>\n

Headquartered in New York City, the Big East’s members are located in seven of the country\u2019s top 36 largest media markets and include Butler University, University of Connecticut, Creighton University, DePaul University, Georgetown University, Marquette University, Providence College, St. John\u2019s University, Seton Hall University, Villanova University, and Xavier University.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit www.bigeast.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Huskies will build their future in the conference where they enjoyed significant athletic successes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":151437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1712,2225,2233],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[117],"class_list":["post-151431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","category-uconn-storrs","category-university-news"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-22 01:11:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151431"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151520,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151431\/revisions\/151520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/151437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151431"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=151431"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=151431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}