ESPN is reporting that an announcement will be made sometime today confirming something that we all figured was going to happen – the Catholic 7 will be leaving the (old) Big East this summer to start the (new) Big East.
The seven schools will depart on June 30 and will begin their new league on July 1, sources said. They are expected to add Butler and Xavier and likely Creighton to have at least a 10-team basketball league for the 2013-14 season, according to sources.
Dayton and St. Louis are the leading candidates to increase the league’s membership to 12 teams for the 2014-15 season, sources said.
According to an exiting Big East source, the new league still has to pursue expansion, conduct a commissioner search, draft league bylaws, and complete fall championship planning. Thursday’s announcement is the finality of the exit.
The current Big East – UConn, Cincinnati, Temple et al. – have until July 1 to come up with a new name. The popular theory on Twitter is that the schools will revive the old Metro Conference name. Hopefully they revive the logo as well.
As bad as this all looks and sounds, just remember that this is very much a financial win for Temple. And remember that for the first time in forever there is an administration in place that puts a significant value on athletics.
The winds of change are blowing on North Broad.
