Here is a fun what if...What if the Eastern 8, founded in 1975, was founded solely with public schools while the Big East, founded in 1979, was founded solely on private/Catholic schools? How would things be different today?

The original Eastern 8 was
Villanova
Duquesne
Penn State
West Virginia
George Washington
UMass
Pitt
Rutgers

The Original Big East was
UConn
Georgetown
Providence
Seton Hall
St. John's
Boston College
Syracuse

What If It Went Down Like This

Eastern 8
Temple
Penn State
West Virginia
George Washington
UMass
UConn
Pitt
Rutgers

Big East
Georgetown
Providence
Villanova
Seton Hall
St. John's
Boston College
Syracuse
Duquense

For football BC and Cuse would have been allowed affiliate membership in Eastern 8 Football giving the league a solid football conference of

Temple
Penn St
Pitt
Rutgers
WVU
BC
Syrcause

Down the road:
Rhode Island was added early on in the Eastern 8's history and since they fit the profile, they would have made a great 9th member. Notre Dame and Miami could have been added to Big East and Virginia Tech added to the Eastern 9, now the Atlantic 10.This would have given the football conference 9 solid members (notre dame would still be an independent) and since this combined football conference would have the big east's BCS spot, UConn would still have the incentive to move up giving the football side 10 schools. UMass might even have moved up since they would have had the UConn guarantee


Result:

BIG EAST
Providence
St. John's
Seton Hall
Georgetown
Villanova
BC
Syracuse
Miami
Notre Dame

Atlantic 10
Temple
Penn St
Rutgers
Pitt
WVU
Va Tech
URI
UConn
UMass
George Washington

BCS Eastern Football Conference
Miami
VA Tech
WVU
Pitt
Penn St
Temple
UConn
BC
Syracuse
Rutgers
*Umass (If they took the Uconn guarantee and upgraded)

Could This Have Happend?

If the founding of the Big East and A10 had been based on Public v. Private/Catholic instead of Good at Basketball v. Not As Good at basketball, and they had worked together, then this could have very well been the end result. Instead UConn was a founding member of the Big East w/ the private/catholic schools and Pitt jumped into bed with them because they were the basketball power leaving Penn St. vulnerable for the Big 10 to come in after being rejected by the Big East. The A10 leftovers with 1A football got in the Big East eventually due to football politics (except Temple) while the non D1A football members did their best to create the hodgepodge A10 we know and love today.