The Big East Hath Shall No Longer Exist
Me trash-talking the BC mascot at Madison Square Garden, circa 2004 (I've been an asshole since college)
This is what it’s come to.
I remember being at the top of Madison Square Garden, sipping an Amstel Light from a massive plastic mug with a pretzel rod in the handle, and jumping over a railing in front of me (cleared it, bitch) when Allan Ray was called for a foul on West Virginia’s Mike Gansey in the final minute of a Big East Tournament semifinal.
A year later, I watched, in horror, also with Amstel, when Ray nearly had his eye poked out by 62-year-old Pittsburgh guard Carl Krauser, in a Big East Tournament seminfinal.
Friday nights – semifinals nights – in New York were not kind to Villanova. Neither was Amstel Light, apparently.
Those were the days.
Now, according to a report from ESPN, the Big East will soon be no more, at least not in any recognizable capacity:
The seven schools — DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova — are "close to a consensus on what they want to do next," a source said Wednesday.
Sources told ESPN the seven schools discussed a number of options but most importantly wanted to have "lots of dialogue to better understand the best course of action for the future."
Sources said Wednesday it's becoming "more likely" the basketball schools will break away from the league's football members.
It's unknown whether they would attempt to dissolve the league or leave the league as a group. The league can be dissolved in a vote of the league members by a two-thirds majority, according to Big East bylaws. With all of the Big East's recent defections, only 10 members (the seven non-FBS schools plus Cincinnati, UConn and South Florida) can vote on the league dissolving.
Goodbye, the Big East.
Read the full story here.