The official order of business remains basketball–Big East tournament games all week.

Unofficially? What do you think? The Catholic 7 group of schools who finalized their split with the football schools last week, need more teams, a commissioner,  league offices and staff–all which must be done in the next few months, if not few weeks.

The football group needs a new conference name and a home for its basketball tournament next season–the Catholic 7 re-born as the Big East will play next season in Madison Square Garden.

With that in mind, the Catholic 7 group of Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s, DePaul, Georgetown, Villanova and Marquette are expected to hold an informational meeting in New York on  Wednesday to set the agenda for the future.

The main topics are expected to be:

Read More…

Since the Big East football conference is now officially looking for a new name here is some free advice for Commissioner Mike Aresco: Keep it Simple.

As evidence. we go back to the formation of the original Big East basketball conference in  1979  by the late, great Dave Gavitt.

After the announcement had been made that a new basketball league was being formed, Gavitt, as the league’s founder and first commissioner, was listening to discussions of possible names. He called his small staff together and gave them a basic outline of his plan.

“Right now, everyone is calling us this “Super Conference,” said Gavitt, referring to the original group of schools which included Syracuse, Georgetown, St. John’s, Connecticut, Boston College, Seton Hall  and Providence, four of which (Georgetown, St. John’s, Seton Hall and Providence), who will be part of the new Big East basketball conference. “I’m going to leave it at that for now.”

Which he did as the perception of a “super new Eastern based” conference developed over the summer.

In September, Gavitt walked into the Big East office in Providence one morning, called his staff together and said, “”OK, we’re going to be called the Big East.’”

And the rest is indeed history, filled with lots of great memories.

Now that the Big East and Catholic 7 have officially filed their divorce papers, the logical question is: What’s next?

But before any speculation begins, it might be time to  take a survey at the landscape. The biggest winners, as is in most domestic disputes, are the lawyers.

If   you look at all the moves which have been made since the exodus started a few years ago, the biggest payout will be in legal fees by the conference and individual schools involved. Sources estimate that the the eventual legal feels paid out by the participants when when it is all done could top out at the $15 million range.

Which might explain why there was a money fight over distribution of the remaining funds. If you use the estimate of $100 million in available funds, and immediately take 10 million as compensation for the Catholic 7, $15 million in legal fees and then another $5 million to handle new operating costs which may occur you are down to 70 million to be distributed among the remaining members of the soon to be renamed football conference.

Read More…

The divorce between the Catholic 7 group of Big East schools and the football side of the family has been settled, but an internal problem about distribution of  the money remaining in the Big East reserve fund is holding up the announcement.

Welcome to the college version of the Hatfield and McCoys.

What should have been a perfunctory announcement that the Catholic 7–Seton Hall,  Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, Providence, St. John’s and DePaul–was leaving the conference on June 30th form its own basketball dominated conference has spilled over into a family football fight among the old Big East schools–Connecticut, Cincinnati, and South Florida–and the new group, who will be joining the league on a full-time basis on July 1.

Read More…

Barring a last-minute snag, the Big East is expected to make a formal announcement on Thursday that the Catholic 7 group of schools–DePaul, Marquette, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Providence, Villanova and St. John’s will leave the conference, effective June 30th.

The Catholic 7 are expected to also announce that their new conference will be called the Big East (effective July 1) and they will immediately pursue plans to add additional members, who will join the conference and begin play next season.

Read More…

Next week at the Big East tournament will be as strange off the court as anything that happens on the court. Picture a wedding celebration where the mother and father of the bride have announced they are getting a divorce. Happy faces for everyone and family pictures and gatherings at the reception, but the reality of the situation will soon kick in.

So it is with the Big East and the Catholic 7 as they meet as one big, but not always happy, family for a final time.

While the Football Big East must regroup quickly, with a new name and a new direction, the Catholic 7 must also move quickly to form a new league with an old name (Big East) and get up and running for a July 1 start-up date.

And some of those moves will be made in a matter of  weeks. An informational meeting among the Catholic 7 officials is expected to occur next Wednesday in New York, with the plans for new teams as well as the television money from the contract with Fox Sports being discussed.

Here’s what must be done.

Read More…

The final issues should be hammered out on Wednesday, some of the financial numbers still need to be worked on, but at the end of the day the deal should be signed and the divorce between the Big East football and Catholic 7 will be official.

Both sides can make  their announcements on Thursday.

And then what?

If I am Big East Commissioner Mike Aresco, who has worked his butt off for the past six months to make things work, this is what I would do.

Read More…