The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletics conference which has seventeen universities scattered throughout the United States. Known for basketball, teams currently in the Big East account for forty all time Final Four appearances. The Big East was founded in 1979. In the 80s and early 90s, Georgetown, St. John's, and Syracuse were the dominant teams. Georgetown was coached by John Thompson Jr.. He was named three times as the conference Coach of the Year. From the mid 90's to mid 00's, basketball in the Big East was largely "owned" by UConn.