The Catholic 7 will retain the Big East name and add Butler and Xavier next season, according to multiple reports.
The new league started by St. John’s, Seton Hall, Georgetown, DePaul, Marquette, Providence and Villanova will start play next year as FOX Sports helped expedite the move with the promise of a lucrative media rights deal. Butler and Xavier have yet to alert the Atlantic 10 of their departure and will have to pay a $2 million exit fee.
In recent years, the Big East had seen prominent universities like Syracuse, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and West Virginia depart or begin the process of leaving for power football conferences leaving the basketball-only schools in a bind. Notre Dame had been planning on staying with the Big East through next season, but this move is likely to speed up their move to the ACC.