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UConn9604
Surprisingly, a big part of what did in the Big East was being cheap and acting small time, even into the 2000's. I still am dumbfounded that the Big East did not exist as a legal entity (i.e. it was never incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation) until after the 2003 raid. The by-laws were not especially rigorous, and they never really "lawyered up". That lack of legal advice led them to getting short-changed in contract negotiations, and left them open to the raids, just as much as anything else. And maybe if they spent a little more money on lawyers and were a little more forceful with Notre Dame, ND wouldn't have taken their bowl games so often, and for so little in return.
The Big East was incorporated as a non-profit in the District of Columbia in 1979.
As for whether the league was strong or weak, or whether the league's policies were smart or dumb, people like Jake Crouthamel were involved in the league on both the non-football and football sides from the very outset. If the league failed, it was because the people in charge (like Crouthamel et al.) put it in the position to do so.
