Big East will be one 16-team division after expansion

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Big East will be one 16-team division in 2005-06 and only 12 schools will participate in the postseason basketball tournament.

The league announced the new structure Monday and it takes effect following the addition in 2005 of five schools from Conference USA and Boston College's departure for the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Miami and Virginia Tech left for the ACC this academic year, leaving the Big East with 12 schools.

Louisville, Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette and South Florida make the move from Conference USA to make it 16 schools.

The schools will still play a 16-game regular-season schedule with 13 opponents and three repeat matchups. The league office will decide the repeat matchups and it will be based on television, rivalries and geography.

Only 12 schools will advance to the annual postseason tournament at Madison Square Garden, the same as the current setup.

"The bottom line is we want to help our best teams prepare for success in the NCAA tournament," commissioner Mike Tranghese said. "If we expanded our tournament field to 16 teams, there would be no byes -- or rewards -- for what's going to be an exciting, but grueling regular season."

Many within the league were apprehensive about the size of the new conference.

"I know some coaches have expressed concern, that with a 16-team league, the NCAA Basketball Committee may be reluctant to invite a large number of at-large teams from one conference," Tranghese said. "As a former chair of that committee, I know it is their charge to choose the most deserving teams to the tournament. I'm confident that the size of our conference will not hurt our chances in any way when it comes time for NCAA tournament selection."

The only other conference to have 16 members was the Western Athletic Conference from 1996-98. The biggest current league is Conference USA with 14 members.

The Big East has had the last two national champions -- Syracuse and Connecticut.

The only difference in the women's basketball structure is that the schools will play all 15 other schools once with one repeat matchup.

A Big East women's team has won the last five national championships.