by Cesar Tordesillas

New York, NY

The new Big East, composed of seven Catholic schools that bolted the old conference, has added Butler, Xavier and Creighton to its roster before it officially starts operation July 1.

The new conference, which recently agreed to a 12-year television contract with Fox Sports, has also announced that its men's basketball tournament will still be played at Madison Square Garden in New York.

"Today we relaunch the Big East," said Providence College president, Rev. Brian Shanley, at a news conference. "We go back to being a basketball-centric ... league going forward. And I think Dave Gavitt is smiling down right now on what it is that we're doing."

Gavitt, the former coach and athletic director at Providence who died in 2011, founded the original Big East in 1979.

Four original members -- Georgetown, Providence, St. John's and Seton Hall -- will move to the new conference, along with Villanova, Marquette and DePaul.

Butler and Xavier will make the shift from the Atlantic 10, and Creighton joins from the Missouri Valley Conference.

"We looked for schools that had academic profiles like us," Shanley said. "We wanted schools with strong sustainable and sustained athletic programs. And we wanted schools that could play really good basketball, because that's really the bread and butter of the Big East."

"Joining the Big East is an unprecedented opportunity for Butler and represents an ideal fit for us -- academically, athletically and geographically," said Butler president James Danko.

"It's an endorsement of who we are and how we've gotten here, as well as where we can go next," said the Rev. Michael Graham, president of Xavier.

"We see this new partnership enhancing the visibility of the university through increased national media exposure," Creighton president Timothy Lannon said.

The Big East could expand to 12 teams as Saint Louis and Dayton could join the ranks in the future.

"We're 10 for next year. We know that for sure," Shanley said. "Whether and how we get to 12 is a negotiable between us and our partners, and we've discussed actively a number of schools that are really strong potential partners for us."

The Big East has hired executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associates to assist in their search for a commissioner. They've also brought in Dan Beebe, the former commissioner of the Ohio Valley and Big 12 conferences, as a consultant.

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New Big East Takes in Butler, Xavier and Creighton