In 1991 , the Big East , previously a basketball-only conference , decided to begin play as a football conference . Miami , which had just restarted its basketball program in 1985 and played as an independent , was accepted as an " all-sports " member . Rutgers , Temple , West Virginia and Virginia Tech were added as " football only " members . Tech sought full Big East membership , including for basketball , and in March 1994 , the league voted on expansion . Tech was left out of the mix as West Virginia and Rutgers got the nod . Tech was left seeking to join its fellow Metro members in an attempt to create another large conference . However , it was also left out of that mix , along with Metro member Virginia Commonwealth . The two schools sued the 12 members of the new conference , but in the end Tech had to settle for its third choice for a basketball league , the Atlantic 10
Big East
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Virginia Tech Hokies men's basketball