2010–2013 Big East Conference realignment

Most notably, the seven schools that did not sponsor football in Division I FBS announced in December 2012 that they would leave as a group, which led to a formal split of the conference effective in July 2013.

The Big East was founded in 1979 by seven universities in the Northeastern United States—Boston College (BC), Connecticut (UConn), Georgetown, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Syracuse.

[10] Temple remained a football-only member until 2004, when it was voted out of the conference due to poor attendance figures, lack of playing success, and inadequate facilities.

[12] The five other football schools—UConn, Pitt, Rutgers, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia—filed two lawsuits against the proposal, one against the ACC and the other against BC and Miami (Syracuse was not sued because its administration made no public comments on the situation).

ESPN.com named TCU and UCF as leading candidates, along with the upgrade of current member Villanova's FCS football program to the FBS level.

[15] The original idea that TCU should join the Big East reportedly came from a somewhat unexpected source—Pitt men's basketball coach Jamie Dixon.

[16] At that time, speculation was rampant that the Big East might be able to attract a school from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), which was in the midst of negotiating a new media deal.

A source within the conference added that Genshaft's insistence on keeping UCF out was a major contributing factor to the instability that would soon plague the Big East.

[21] In May 2012, one Big East source told Brett McMurphy, then of CBSSports.com, that turning down the deal "was the stupidest decision ever made in college athletics.

[20] Days after the presidents rejected the increased exit fees, TCU reversed its acceptance on October 10 and decided not to join the Big East.

[24][25] To enforce this move, the university filed a lawsuit against the Big East, and blamed Marinatto for the departures of Pittsburgh, Syracuse, and TCU.

However, the school turned the offer down because it would have been subject to steep financial penalties from both the Mountain West and WAC had the football team left for the Big East in 2012.

[37] At the time of their expulsion, the Owls were one of the worst programs in major-college football, but had since achieved respectability in the Mid-American Conference, appearing in two bowl games in the previous three seasons.

[38] Temple's move caused increased speculation that their local rival Villanova could soon choose to upgrade to FBS and join the Big East football conference.

Katz added that although Connecticut was on public record as wishing to stay in the conference, sources within the school said privately that they wanted to be in the ACC with Notre Dame.

As for Notre Dame, it announced a major shift away from the Big East on September 12, 2012, formally joining the ACC as a conference member in all sports but football starting as early as 2014.

While Notre Dame's football program retained nominal independence, the agreement included a commitment by the Fighting Irish to field five games per year against ACC opponents in future schedules.

[42][43] Three days later on July 19, Pitt and the Big East announced they had also settled their dispute, allowing the Panthers to leave for the ACC after the 2012–13 season.

[48] On December 10, veteran sportswriter Mark Blaudschun posted on his blog, A Jersey Guy, that the Big East's seven remaining non-FBS schools, all Catholic institutions—DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Villanova—had met the previous day with commissioner Mike Aresco to discuss their concerns about the future of the conference.

[53] This development was especially significant because several incoming Big East schools had negotiated deals regarding conference withdrawal that were linked to the new TV contract.

An ESPN report on December 11 indicated that Temple athletic director Bill Bradshaw had told The Philadelphia Inquirer that his school had full voting rights despite not yet being an all-sports member, seemingly taking the option of dissolution off the table.

[58] Many urban private schools with prominent basketball programs and without FBS football teams were seen as potential expansion targets for the new basketball-first league.

[55][59] On December 15, the seven schools, which the media would soon dub the "Catholic 7", announced that they had voted unanimously to leave the Big East Conference, effective June 30, 2015.

[66] On December 22, 2012, after the "Catholic 7" announced their departure, ESPN followed up with a report that Boise State was playing off the Big East and MW in an attempt to retain TV rights to its home football games.

[67] This later report indicated that if Boise State opted to remain in the MW, the Big East could become a target for that conference as it sought to expand to 12 football members.

However, Air Force and BYU were apparently content with their current situations, and the other two schools reportedly had no interest in a Big East without Boise State.

[67] On December 31, Boise State announced they had decided to stay in the MW, leaving the Big East, much like TCU, without ever playing a game in it.

The Mountain West was also looking at potentially adding Houston or SMU as its 12th football member, both of which had stated they would join the Big East in 2013 (and would ultimately end up in The American).

[71] SDSU athletic director Jim Sherk reportedly tried to make the Big East move work even after Boise State's decision to stay in the MW.

For instance, the new Big East claims that it "moved" its headquarters from its longtime home in Providence, Rhode Island (where The American remained based for a time) to New York City.