Big East Will Split Into Two Divisions

The Big East will split into two seven-team divisions with the arrival of Virginia Tech for the 2000-01 basketball season.

The men’s divisions, currently unnamed, are:

* Boston College, Connecticut, Miami, Providence, St. John’s, Villanova and Virginia Tech.

* Georgetown, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Syracuse and West Virginia.

Both the men and women will continue to play a 16-game regular-season conference schedule. A men’s team will play each divisional opponent twice and four games against teams in the other division.

Also, the league said the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments will have a 12-team format beginning next season.

The men’s tournament will involve the top six teams in each division. The top two teams in each men’s division and the top four women’s teams will be given first-round byes.

Currently, all 13 men’s and women’s teams compete in their postseason tournaments.