When the “Catholic 7” agreed to depart from the Big East in March 2013, the split’s main focus was the impact it would have from a basketball standpoint.
The Catholic 7, consisting of DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John’s and Villanova, were close to a lucrative basketball television contract with Fox Sports Network.
On June 30, 2013, the Catholic 7 officially split from the old Big East, kept the Big East name and maintained their rights to host the conference basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden. Soon after this, Xavier, Butler and Creighton were added to the newly formed Big East.