The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference consisting of sixteen universities in the eastern half of the United States. The conference's 17 members (16 full-time and 1 associate member) participate in 24 NCAA sports. Eight of the seventeen conference schools are football members and the Big East competes as a BCS conference in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the top level of NCAA competition in that sport (also known by its former designation: Division I-A). Three members have football programs but are not Big East football schools: Georgetown and Villanova compete in the Football Championship Subdivision and Notre Dame plays as an FBS independent. The other five schools—Seton Hall, St. John's, DePaul, Marquette, and Providence—discontinued their football programs.

In football, the Big East has had all eight members play in bowl games since the 2005 realignment and has had seven of eight teams ranked in the Top 25 since 2003. In that time, the Big East has seen the emergence of new national players West Virginia rising to as high as No. 1 and was ranked in the Top 10 for three-straight years (2005, 2006, 2007) (South Florida rising as high as No. 2, Cincinnati and Louisville both as high as No. 3, Rutgers as high as No. 7, Pittsburgh as high as No. 9, and Connecticut as high as No. 13 in BCS standings). Also, Big East football has seen an increase in attendance and is enjoying a new, $250 million plus television package that lasts through 2013.

John Marinatto was the former commissioner of the Big East Conference. He served as senior associate commissioner of the Big East from 2002 until he began his tenure as third commissioner of the conference on July 1, 2009. He resigned from his position as commissioner on May 7th, 2012.

Marinatto is a native of Providence, Rhode Island, and graduated from Providence College in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in business management. He later worked at Providence as an Associate Director of Alumni/Development and as Director of Sports Information. Marinatto was later the athletic director at Providence for 14 years. He directed all aspects of the Providence Friars athletic program, including a $10 million annual budget and a staff of over 100 employees. While at Providence, Marinatto served as the Chairman of the Big East Athletic Directors’ Executive Committee from 1996–2000, the longest tenure of any athletic director in the history of the conference. He also served the conference as the Chairman of the Athletic Directors’ Finance Committee from 1992–93. In addition, Marinatto served as Chairman of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Women’s Basketball Committee and Television Committee, and was a member of the Men’s Basketball Committee, Academic Affairs Committee and Championships and Competition Committee.

Kemba Hudley Walker (born May 8, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Charlotte Bobcats. Walker grew up in The Bronx, New York and graduated from Rice High School in 2008. With the Huskies basketball team at the University of Connecticut, Walker was the 2nd leading college basketball scorer in the United States and helped his team win the 2011 NCAA tournament. In the 2011 NBA Draft, Walker was drafted ninth overall by the Bobcats.

In his junior year, Walker played against Simeon Career Academy and senior guard Derrick Rose in Madison Square Garden in a 53–51 win. During Walker's senior year he averaged 18.2 points per game and 5.3 assists per game, earning him a spot on the prestigious McDonald's All-American Team. Walker played for the New York Gauchos AAU basketball program with fellow Big East players Jordan Theodore, Darryl "Truck" Bryant, Devin Hill, and Danny Jennings. The team went on to finish #1 in the nation. Following high school he agreed to play for the University of Connecticut.