Don’t be fooled by the name Big East. It is a collegiate athletics conference made up of 17 universities in the Northeastern, Southeastern and Midwestern United States.

Members of the Big East Conference are: University of Cincinnatti, University of Connecticut, DePaul University, Georgetown University, University of Louisville, Marquette University, University of Notre Dame, University of Pittsburgh, Providence College, Rutgers University, St. John’s University, Seton Hall University, University of South Florida, Syracuse University, Villanova University, West Virginia University.

The Big East is big into NCAA sports. 23 to be exact including: baseball, basketball, cross country, football, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, indoor & outdoor track and volleyball.

Eight of the 17 are football members and they compete in the Bowl Championship Series in the Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, formerly Division 1-A), the top level of NCAA competition. Georgetown and Villanova compete in the Football Championship (formerly known as Division 1-AA) and Notre Dame plays as a FBS independent.

Big East Scoreboard

• Of the Big East’s 16 full members, 15 have been to the Final Four (that’s 93%)—by far the most of any conference. (the only college that never made it is South Florida.
• Pittsburgh won the 2007-2008 Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship
• Connecticut won the 2007-2008 Women’s Basketball Tournament Championship

If you are all about having new, strange experiences at college, then Assumption College in Worcester, Massachusetts might have something for you.

Capoeira.

Never heard of it? Well it’s been called both beautiful and deadly.

And from my experience, college students are into beautiful and deadly things. But this one is actually a healthy option.

It’s martial arts,  dance, gymnastics and music rolled into one.

The sport has been around for a long time and originated in Brazil and became one of the hottest crazes in Hollywood. Halle Berry used capoeira in Catwoman and capoeira moves were incorporated Ocean’s Twelve and Aeon Flux. Capoeira even appears in the video game Street Fighter.

Now more and more colleges are kicking and spinning their way into the capoeira trend. Along with Assumption college–Hamilton College, Boston College and Roanoke College also have capoeira clubs.

Though its roots are debated, most attribute capoeira to African slaves in Brazil — they created it as a mode of self-defense and revolt that looks like a folk dance.

Participants form a circle and take turns playing instruments, singing and sparring in pairs in the center of the circle—there are acrobatic moves, groundwork, sweeps, kicks, headbutts and more.

Members of college capoeira clubs learn the movements, history, and philosophy of capoeira. They also promote awareness of the art around campus through performances and demonstrations.

Capoeira kind of looks like a circus. So if you really had your mind set on clown college but your parents forced you into the real deal—capoeira just might be the right club for you. And anyone is welcome to join regardless of experience.

The club at Assumption College meets every Tuesday and Thursday from 7pm - 8pm in the Plourde aerobics room.

Photo by: Luiz (flickr)

The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is… you guessed it…an athletic conference of colleges located on the East Coast.

There are twelve college members of the Atlantic Coast Conference: Boston College, Clemson University, Duke University, Florida State University, Georgia Tech, University of Maryland, University of Miami, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Wake Forest University.

These schools all participate in the NCAA’s Division 1. Football teams participate in the Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the higher of two levels of Division 1 college football.

The League was founded in 1953, and it has competitions in 20 sports including: Baseball, basketball (men and women), cross country (men and women), field hockey, football, golf, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming & diving, tennis, track & field, volleyball and wrestling.

Atlantic Coast College Scoreboard

• ACC schools have captured 10 NCAA basketball championships. North Carolina has won four, Duke has won three, North Carolina State has won two and Maryland has won one.  And how’s this for a slam dunk? 8 of the 12 members have advanced to the final four at least once.
• ACC football teams play in the Orange Bowl in the Bowl Championship series.
• In men’s soccer, the ACC has won 12 national championships, including 11 in the 24 seasons between 11 in the 24 seasons between 1984 and 2007. Five of those have been won by Virginia.
• In women’s soccer, North Carolina has won 18 of the 25 NCAA titles since the NCAA crowned its first champion.

So if you play for a school in the Atlantic Coast Conference you have to step up your game..east coast styles. Represent.