The Big East and the Catholic Seven have finally agreed to the date the parties will officially split from one another.
The Big East announced on March 8, that they would allow the seven Catholic to leave to depart on June 30.
"I am pleased that this agreement has been reached," Big East commissioner Mike Aresco said. "With the long-term well-being of our outstanding institutions and their student-athletes of paramount importance, each group worked through a number of complex issues in an orderly, comprehensive and amicable manner marked by mutual respect. We part ways as friends and colleagues and look forward to the success of both conferences."
The Catholic Seven – which includes DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova – will keep the Big East name and will be part of a 10-team conference. The three other members will reportedly be Xavier, Butler and Creighton.
The Catholic Seven group, which was not forced to honor the conference’s 27-month exit agreement, will receive about $10 million of an estimated $110 million in exit fees collected by the Big East the past few years.
The new Big East is expected to sign a media rights agreement with Fox Sports, which is reportedly worth $3 million per school annually.
Other Big East news:
- The Big East has agreed to allow Notre Dame to bolt to the ACC on July 1, for a $2.5 million buyout.
- Louisville and Rutgers will depart from the Big East after next season. The Cardinals will join the ACC while the Scarlet Knights will move to the Big 10.
-The conference formally known as the Big East will have 10 teams in 2013. The 10 teams will be Connecticut, Louisville, Rutgers, Cincinnati, Houston, Memphis, South Florida, SMU, Temple and UCF.
- America 12 is the name being bantered about for the new conference which will have 10 teams in 2014. The 10 teams will be the same as those listed above with the exception of Louisville and Rutgers. Those two teams will be replaced by East Carolina and Tulane.
Tulsa, St. Louis and Tulsa are being given consideration when the new conference expands to 12 teams in ’14 or ’15.
2013 Big East Tournament update
Second-ranked Notre Dame will battle 13th-ranked Louisville in one conference semi-final game on March 11, while third-ranked Connecticut will take on 24th-ranked Syracuse in the other semifinal game.
On March 10, Notre Dame defeated South Florida 75-66, Louisville defeated St. John’s 62-55, Connecticut trounced DePaul 94-61 and Syracuse squeaked past Villanova 61-56 in the quarterfinals.
Comments