so it is Marquette, DePaul, Butler, Xavier, G-town, Vanillanova, Seton Hall, Saint John's, and Providence?
I love the Big East name. This gets back to why the conference was founded in the first place. It gives the high level non-football urban schools with strong basketball traditions an opportunity to play in one league that has schools with similar commitments to the sport.
It may be hard for the young'ns to remember, but back in the old ECAC semi-independent days, East coast basketball was not thought of highly except for the ACC. Even the ACC was thought to be insular and over-rated because only the tournament winner would go to the NCAA. By putting together the original Big East, it even helped the non-members like the A-10 get recognition.
Butler is a bit odd as a member because it is not Catholic, but adding an Indianapolis and a Cincinatti school may help a bit on TV, and of course it adds a lot to the quality of the hoops. They are sort of the UConn in the old set up.