The Big East Conference will begin sponsoring men’s lacrosse beginning in the spring of 2010. Participants will be Georgetown, Notre Dame, Providence, Rutgers, St. John’s (New York), Syracuse and Villanova.

Defending national champion Syracuse plays as an independent. Notre Dame is a member of the Great Western Lacrosse League. Georgetown, Rutgers and St. John’s are part of the ECAC. Providence belongs to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and Villanova is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association.

The teams will play a six-game, single round-robin regular-season schedule and the conference will apply for an automatic bid to the 16-team NCAA championship. Men’s lacrosse will be the 24^th sport sponsored by the Big East.

Also, Villanova women’s lacrosse will join the Big East in the 2009-10 academic year. The Wildcats currently play as an independent.

“We are looking forward to the excitement that men’s lacrosse will bring to the Big East Conference,” said Commissioner Mike Tranghese. “We have schools with established and successful programs, which want to come together and compete under the Big East brand.”