This is right. The “original BE” is not the same as “original members of the original BE”. The “new BE” is not the same as new members of the either iteration of the BE.
There was a conference called the Big East from 1979-2013, it had fluctuating membership. Some were original members like Georgetown and Providence, some were not original members like Pittsburgh and West Virginia. All were members of the original BE. In 2013, a new conference was formed with 10 members, only 4 of which were actually original members of the original BE. It has been deemed the New Big East.
That’s the story, that’s all. Everything else is just a shell game.
So, anyone who doesn’t agree with your version is just playing a shell game? Interesting.
Here are the facts:
1. There is a conference called The Big East which has existed from 1979 to the present. Both the AAC and The Bug East agree on that point and they formally recognized it by putting it in writing.
2. The Big East had a consistent core group of members, which remain the core of the conference to this day.
3. Football membership fluctuated. The non-football core remained stable. The conference developed 2 wings.
4. After BC and Miami announced that they were leaving in 2003, it was anticipated that continuing instability due to football and the hybrid nature of the conference could eventually destroy the conference. Precisely to prevent this all sides agreed to a process by which the non-football members could be protected and could remain whole as a conference. This process, which was agreed to in writing, allowed a group to initiate a split only under circumstances in which they separated from the other wing en masse as a group. With 27 months notice, this process could be triggered without any financial penalties.
5. Anyone who lived through the creation of the Big East knows that Villanova was part of the founding group but was delayed in their ability to begin competition right away by their commitment to the Eastern 8. The fact that they gave notice to the Eastern 8 when they did confirms this fact. So, to claim that only 4 of the Big East break away group in 2013 were actually original members is based on a technicality which ignores what was going on in the real world.
6. More of a shell game is being played here when claiming that only 4 of 10 were original members of the Big East. The break away group was the C7, not 10. And 5 of the 7 were original members. The 7 then expanded to 10 by adding 3 more. But it was the group of 7 who established the Big East identity with their announcement in December, 2012.
7. “It has been deemed the New Big East”. No it hasn’t. The conference’s name is simply the Big East. The “new” reference at the time was for anyone who hadn’t kept up with fast moving developments and didn’t realize that UConn, Syracuse, Louisville, and the rest could no longer be found under that label. But, please, it’s been a decade. Everyone knows who the Bug East is and doesn’t need the “new” when the news is old. Give it a rest.