Big East disbands and is reborn

Villanova and Temple can officially resume their rivalry from a distance.

A Big East divorce, in the works for weeks, was approved Friday, subject to final board approval. The schools that play Big East football will remain in the league but need to choose a new name since they've effectively sold the Big East brand to the departing schools.

Officially, the divorce goes into effect July 1, when Villanova, Georgetown, Marquette, DePaul, Seton Hall, St. John's, and Providence form a new league called the Big East.

According to Big East sources, Xavier and Butler are "unanimous" choices to join the new basketball-centered league that is expected to hold its conference tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Temple will be part of a league anchored by Big East holdovers Connecticut and Cincinnati, with Memphis joining the Owls as top basketball members. Others are South Florida, Central Florida, Southern Methodist, Houston, and Tulane, with Navy joining for football only.

East Carolina also has accepted an invite for football-only but is now expected to be invited for all sports. Tulsa also is expected to be invited for all sports, to become the 12th member.

Villanova's league, which will start up in 2013-14, hasn't reached a consensus on membership. Creighton is the favorite to join as a 10th school, although sources said it was unclear if the league would start this summer with nine or 10 schools. St. Louis, Dayton, and Richmond also are in the mix if the Big East goes to 12 schools.

As for the name of Temple's new league, commissioner Mike Aresco said, "We have not chosen a conference name at this time and there are no favorites."

Reports of the new league looking at the America 12 for a name were not greeted with much initial public enthusiasm.

"We are going through a thoughtful evaluation of potential names for our conference and will select a name in a timely manner through a comprehensive and deliberate process that involves our presidents and athletic directors as well as constituents from inside and outside the conference," Aresco said in a statement.

Board approval is expected next week in New York before the Big East tournament. Between the tournament at the Garden and the Atlantic Ten tournament in Brooklyn, all sorts of schools will be coming, going, and passing through.

Temple's future league may rotate between sites, with Hartford and Memphis reported as possibilities for the 2014 postseason tournament.

Other details to be worked out include placing Olympic sports in leagues since each of the new separated leagues don't have schools participating in every sport. According to Big East sources, look for sports such as field hockey and women's lacrosse to continue in a combined Big East for at least a trial period of a year or two.

According to sources, Villanova will leave with roughly the equivalent of the NCAA basketball tournament units it had earned, worth close to $2 million.

Most of the money left behind by earlier departing schools will go to the schools remaining, with Connecticut, Cincinnati, and South Florida getting the largest shares as dictated by a separation agreement put in place when Cincinnati and South Florida first joined the league.

Temple became a full voting member last July and can be expected to get a slightly larger share than other schools coming in this year and in the next two years. Those shares, however, are still being negotiated, according to league sources.

Notre Dame, taking all of its sports but football to the Atlantic Coast Conference, is trying to do that for 2013-14. But that exit date is being negotiated, according to a source. Notre Dame is allowed to leave with no exit fee but would have to wait two more years to do that without the fee.

So the Big Five schools will play in four different leagues, with St. Joseph's and La Salle remaining in the Atlantic Ten, which soon will be looking for new members.

Villanova's league has a name but also a myriad of details to work out. The league has no commissioner, league office or staff, still needs to negotiate a new deal with Madison Square Garden and finalize its membership. A television deal worth a reported $40 million a year has been struck with Fox Sports to be announced in the days ahead. The old Big East has negotiated a seven-year football and basketball deal with ESPN for $130 million.