Report: Seven Big East Catholic schools eye summer 2014 departure

The Big East hopes to resolve the details of its split over the next few weeks so that the seven departing Catholic-based schools can leave by the summer of 2014, ESPN.com's Andy Katz is reporting.

League members discussed the matter during a conference call on Friday, when "there seemed to be a consensus" that each of the seven schools -- Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's, Marquette, DePaul and Villanova -- want to form a new league by the fall of 2014, according to the report.

There was "very little talk of expansion" during the call, which centered mainly around the split and a new TV contract, the report states.

Matters still to be determined include the "legal battle" over the Big East name and the departing seven schools' decision on a new commissioner, league bylaws, location, championships, compliance rules and the addition of new teams.

The departing seven are expected initially to target Butler and Xavier out of the Atlantic 10 to get to nine teams. The next question will be if the seven grow to 10 or 12 with candidates among Creighton, Dayton, Saint Louis, Richmond and VCU. The remaining Big East schools in 2014-15 would consist of UConn, Cincinnati, South Florida, Memphis, Temple, SMU, Houston, Central Florida, Tulane and East Carolina for football, and then Navy in the fall of 2015.