PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The BIG EAST Conference has determined the home and away league schedule of opponents for the 2008-09 women’s basketball season, the league office announced. The conference has opted to maintain the same repeat opponents from the 2007-08 season for the upcoming year, balancing the home and away cycle.

The format for league play is a 16-game schedule. Each team will play 16 conference games - seven opponents home only, seven opponents away only and one opponent both home and away, a repeat opponent. Each member will have a total of eight home and eight away games.

Connecticut and Rutgers, who advanced the farthest of the league’s 16 teams in the 2008 NCAA Championship, again will meet twice in 2008-09.

The BIG EAST landed eight teams in the 2008 NCAA Championship, tied for the most in NCAA history. In addition, Marquette, St. John’s, USF and Villanova all participated in the 2008 Postseason National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). The 12 teams combined, playing in the NCAA and WNIT postseason tournaments, marked the highest postseason total in conference history. Connecticut returned to the Final Four for the first time since 2004 and the ninth time overall. The league had a record five teams advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 – Connecticut, Louisville, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Rutgers. Marquette, which was crowned the 2008 WNIT Champion, marked the third BIG EAST team in league history that played for the WNIT title.

Six BIG EAST teams were ranked in the final ESPN/USA Today Top 25 poll released at the end of NCAA Championship play, while five teams were recognized in the final Associated Press poll issued on March 17.  With its Final Four appearance, Connecticut was No. 1 in the AP poll and No. 3 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Rutgers moved to No. 6 in the coaches’ poll and was ranked No. 7 by the AP after its second-straight Elite 8 appearance. Louisville won 13 of its last 16 games to end the season, including a run to the BIG EAST Championship game and its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Sweet 16. The Cardinals were ranked No. 12 in the ESPN/USA Toady poll and No. 19 by the Associated Press. Notre Dame finished No. 13 in the coaches’ poll and No. 15 in the AP rankings after advancing to the NCAA Sweet 16, while Pittsburgh also earned a spot in the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history and completed the year ranked No. 16 in the coaches’ poll. West Virginia ended the year ranked No. 17 by the Associated Press and No. 20 in the ESPN/USA Today poll.

Marquette, along with DePaul received votes in the final coaches’ poll. Pittsburgh, DePaul and Syracuse all received votes in the final Associated Press poll.

With next season’s start still eight months away, the future is bright for the BIG EAST women’s basketball. In an early preseason poll by ESPN.com, seven BIG EAST teams are ranked in the top 30, including UConn at No. 1, Rutgers at No. 4 and Louisville at No. 10. Rounding out the rankings are Notre Dame (No. 17), Marquette (No. 25), Pittsburgh (No. 27) and Syracuse (No. 30). In an early SI.com poll, Connecticut (No. 1), Rutgers (No. 4) and Louisville (No. 10) are all ranked.

Below is the grid of the 2008-09 BIG EAST Women’s Basketball home/away league opponents: