Big East Basketball to Split Up

It looks like the Big East’s seven Catholic schools–Villanova, DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John’s, and Seton Hall–are on the verge of breaking their basketball programs away from the conference, in part to sever their ties with the rest of the league’s lame football teams. It’s a sad day for tradition, but with the recent departures of Syracuse, Pitt, Notre Dame, and West Virginia, the Big East was never going to be the same anyways. And forget about ‘Nova and St. Joe’s in the same league–the Catholic seven almost certainly won’t be merging with the Atlantic 10. [Sports Illustrated]