When DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, Seton Hall, St. Johns and Villanova decided to leave the Big East a month ago, it was (and still is) uncertain what the schools will do regarding their conference fate.
Since the announcement, ESPN’s Darren Rovell has reported that the “Catholic 7” will look to add three-to-five schools in order to form a 10- to 12-team conference. This will make them a balanced conference, and attract a power conference-type TV deal. The question, however, is who should get the invite?
The seven former Big East schools share a lot in common. (Click to enlarge)
They’re all mid-sized Catholic Universities located in or near major urban areas with storied basketball traditions and no Division I FBS football program. There are several schools in the A-10 and Horizon League that fit that description.
Dayton and Xavier would be natural fits to join the Catholic 7. The two schools have a combined nine Tournament appearances in the past ten years, with Xavier reaching the Elite Eight in ’04 and ’08.
Butler might be the toughest catch, but it would be worthwhile. They would be the only non-Catholic school (they’re affiliated with the Christian Church). That aside, Brad Stevens is looking like the next great college coach, and they would add two more Final Four appearances to the Catholic 7’s existing 18.
Loyola is a program that seems to be on the rise, along with their North Side of Chicago neighbor DePaul. Renew that rivalry in an already basketball crazy town.
Valparaiso and Detroit also have a history with many of their Midwestern Catholic brethren. At roughly 3,000 full-time undergraduates, both schools have lower attendances than any of the school’s mentioned. Both schools are at the top of the Horizon League. Detroit has a bona fide star this season in Ray McCallum Jr. and who can forget current Valpo head coach Bryce Drew‘s 1998 buzzer beater (and subsequent swan dive.) His father Homer was his coach that season, just as Ray Jr. currently plays for Ray Sr. at Detroit.
Another school that would fit the bill could be MVC giant Creighton. The Blue Jays have a formidable father-son duo themselves in head coach Greg and high-scoring guard Doug. They’ve gone dancing eight out of the past fourteen seasons.
With the conference realignment epidemic crossing over to the basketball side of things, Depaul, Georgetown,, Marquette, Providence Seton, Hall, St. John’s and Villanova have a chance to form a basketball that is as strong top-to-bottom as any conference in the NCAA.
In the coming months, we will see.
Jake Berent 
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