Completed Event: Women's Golf at St. John's Women's Invitational on April 6, 2026 , , T-11th of 12
Women's Golf
at St. John's Women's Invitational
Final
T-11th of 12
Providence College Athletics
Realignment Presents A Challenge To Increase Program Support
Realignment Presents A Challenge To Increase Program Support
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| * December * September * August 28 Chat * May 29 Chat * May * January * November * October * September |
December
The upheaval in the BIG EAST Conference over the last six months has been tumultuous for Providence Athletics and for everyone with an interest in the history and tradition of the conference. With the defection of Miami, Virginia Tech, and Boston College to the ACC, the future of the BIG EAST Conference and Providence College's position in the national college basketball arena were in jeopardy.
Despite seemingly strong odds against a highly favorable solution, Commissioner Michael Tranghese and the presidents and athletics directors of the remaining BIG EAST member institutions have helped the conference emerge bigger and better than ever, especially in the area of basketball. The leadership demonstrated by those involved in this process was outstanding and should be commended.
The geographical footprint of the new 16-school conference-which will take effect in the 2005-06 academic year-will encompass over 26% of the United States and will increase audience exposure (as measured by the number of television sets) by 19%. This additional exposure will strengthen the new conference's brand identity and increase recognition of Providence College nationally. In regards to Providence Athletics, this exposure will assist our ability to recruit the best student-athletes.
In addition to the larger geographical footprint, our new conference has created what many consider to be the "strongest men's basketball conference in the nation." If the new conference were in place today-with Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Marquette, and DePaul-seven of the BIG EAST members would be ranked in the top 25, according to preseason rankings. Fifteen of the 16 schools in the newly realigned conference have competed in the NCAA Final Four and seven of them have won national championships.
"The time is now" for Friar supporters
This new, improved conference simultaneously presents Providence College with tremendous opportunities and considerable challenges. If we hope to achieve our vision of being one of the most respected programs in the nation, graduating our student-athletes, and competing for championships, we must not waver in our commitment to improve on every front and increase program support.
We have made considerable progress over the past year with our fundraising efforts. Thanks to the generous support of our season ticket holders, the "Friars Forever" seating campaign has been a great success with over 85% renewals of prime seats. This is a big step in the right direction and has generated additional revenue to be reinvested in the program, but more must be done.
The refurbishing of the Dunkin' Donuts Center, where our men's basketball team plays its home games, is of paramount importance. When the new BIG EAST launches in 2005, Providence will be the only school in the conference that does not play in a state-of-the-art, on-campus facility or in an NBA-quality facility off campus. Our goal is to compete at the highest level in this conference and we are working toward providing the coaches, student-athletes, and fans of all our sports teams with the facilities necessary to achieve this goal.
"The time is now" for Friar family and friends to step up and support the program in any way you can. I know that there are enough passionate Friar fans in "Friartown" to help achieve our vision and I firmly believe that by working together, we all win.
GO FRIARS!
