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Big East fate vexes Catholic schools

The seven Big East Catholic, non-FBS schools met with Big East commissioner Mike Aresco on Sunday to express their concerns for the direction of the conference, multiple Big East sources confirmed to ESPN.com on Monday.

Sources said the New York meeting was the first among the seven schools (Marquette, DePaul, St. John's, Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall and Villanova) and ultimately could lead to them splitting from the Big East's football members.

http://www.basketballforum.com/newth...newthread&f=94

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The Atlantic 10 has discussed the possibility of a 21-team basketball league in the event that the changing conference landscape makes high-profile Big East schools available, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told ESPN.com Tuesday.
The A-10 has been proactive over the last year, strengthening its brand as a high-profile basketball conference with the additions of Butler and VCU, two programs that were in the 2011 Final Four.
The A-10 currently is a 16-team conference for the 2012-13 season, but Temple and Charlotte are set to leave for the Big East and Conference USA, respectively.

http://collegebasketballtalk.nbcspor...tball-schools/

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http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...hools/1767387/

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/st...ss-source-says

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-...61--ncaab.html

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A Smart Breakaway for Big East Basketball Schools

A conference composed of these seven teams, along with select others that do not sponsor Division I football programs, could offer a men’s basketball league that was roughly as competitive as that of major conferences like the Pacific-12 and the Southeastern Conference. The alternative, to remain attached to the other members of the Big East, would put these schools at risk of being associated with a conference that would come to be regarded as second-tier.



http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes...tball-schools/

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Potential all-Catholic conference offers schools challenges and opportunity


As a chunk of the Big East transforms itself into a mostly or even all-Catholic basketball league, the conference faces a choice: play up or play down its faith-based roots?

With Catholic higher education already struggling to strike a balance between faith and financial security, either course carries both challenges and opportunities.

On the one hand, the seven schools that announced Saturday they’ll set off on their own — St. John’s, Georgetown, Marquette, DePaul, Seton Hall, Providence and Villanova — have already made clear they’ll look to non-denominational institutions that otherwise fit their profile, such as Butler, to expand.


http://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-...s-challenges-a

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fans are also splitting

http://www.holylandofhoops.com/viewf...0ef88ba849afb6

http://csnbbs.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=771

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“The Catholic Seven will claim that the name belongs to them because they are synonymous with the Big East brand,’’ Rupp said. “Like trademark disputes over rock band names, the Catholic Seven will likely argue that they are like Mick Jagger, who was largely responsible for making the Rolling Stones, the Rolling Stones. “This argument is more likely to succeed if the Catholic Seven can show that they and not the three schools that are staying controlled how the mark was licensed. In trademark law, if you control the quality of the product sold under a trademark, you have standing to claim that you own that mark.’’


No one knows this better than former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue, a Georgetown alum who was hired as a consultant by former Big East commissioner John Marinatto. Tagliabue knows the ins and outs of the Colts’ notorious midnight move from Baltimore to Indianapolis and the machinations that went on when the Browns were considering an exodus from Cleveland.

In other words, long before the Catholic Seven decided to secede, they knew what the legal challenges might be. Fortunately for everyone involved, the Big East once again has a strong commissioner who likely can get the split done as expeditiously as possible.

Mike Aresco, sources said, has been working tirelessly toward this solution: After the 2013 football season, the last year in the current BCS system, and the 2013-14 basketball season, he will sell the rights to the Big East name to the Catholic Seven. The league with those teams will continue to play its postseason tournament in the Garden.


http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/colle...rVQYweK2jPQK/1

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Catholic 7 presidents to discuss timing of Big East exit


The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the meeting details were supposed to remain confidential.

Although no major expansion plans are expected to be announced, the group is expected to announce that it has reached an agreement with the remaining Big East schools to leave the league a year earlier than originally stated, with a start-up date of July 1, 2014, rather than July 1, 2015.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports...-york/1807735/

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NEW YORK -- The seven Catholic schools that have decided to leave the Big East and form their own league continued to plot the future Friday, retaining Proskauer Rose LLP and Pilson Communications, Inc., to aid in their defection.

The university presidents met Friday in New York to discuss the future of the new league. They vow to "honor the history and tradition on which the Big East was established." There is no timetable for when other schools will join the league

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...-big-east-exit

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Report: 'Catholic 7' banking on big payday with new TV deal


The seven Catholic schools that plan to leave the Big East to form their own basketball conference expect to double their money off a television deal, according to sources.

Sources say that Fox, whose Fox Sports 1 channel is set to launch in August, has an initial high offer on the table of more than $500 million for a 12-year deal. Fox Sports 1 will replace the network's motorsports channel Speed, already in 81 million homes. Sources say officials with Fox are scheduled to meet with those representing the interest of the "Catholic 7" in New York City on Wednesday. A Fox spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. A high-ranking source at NBC Sports Network, which has so far engaged in preliminary discussions with the "Catholic 7," declined comment. ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz also declined comment on the network's interest in the "Catholic 7" games.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bask...eal-basketball