found this from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_East_Conference
Penn State applied for admission into the Big East in 1982, but was rejected
by one vote. This vote led Penn State to cancel its rivalry game with Syracuse
and forced the conference to turn to Miami in 1991 to start up a football
conference (Penn State had already committed to joining the Big Ten for the
1993 season).
this is a move that big east commissioner Mike Tranghese recently said ended
up being a bad move for the conference