The original Big East Conference dominated men’s college basketball in the 1980s and 1990s, full of larger-than-life coaches and exceptionally talented players. O’Neil (The Athletic) has written a history of the conference’s formation, expansion, realignment, and split, which in 2013 created a new Big East. O’Neil defines each school’s identity in the conference and explores how this most unlikely of geographical bases left obscurity in the ’80s to become the focal point of college basketball for a decade, and the source of numerous championships and future Hall of Famers. The smooth narrative incorporates firsthand accounts from many of the era’s headliners, partnered with O’Neil’s expert research. This is, to date, the most comprehensive and objective history of this era of the Big East: the rivalries, players, coaches, and championships that were, O’Neil says, “almost too preposterous to believe.” VERDICT This all-inclusive, highly engaging history is as compelling as the Big East Conference itself during those over-the-top years and will delight basketball fans of all ages. Recommended for sports collections in public libraries and for specialty collections.