The Big East is Dead... Long Live the Big East

What a win for the Catholic 7 this week. The departing Big East basketball schools are apparently not only breaking away in time for the 2013-14 season, but they are reportedly getting just about everything they want: the Big East name, a new TV contract, and maybe even Madison Square Garden as the home of its conference tournament. It's great because the Big East name will stay where it belongs: with schools who care most about basketball.

As I've said before, though, I will miss the Big East in its current form, and I do love rivalries. I hate hearing "this is the last time Georgetown and Syracuse will play." It won't be. At least, it shouldn't be. Once the dust settles, the bitterness fades and the fans clamor for it, the teams should play again.

I propose a replacement for the Big East-SEC Challenge: The Big East Memorial Challenge. Let's remember the great league the Big East was and keep the rivalries going.

Fans don't want to see their rivalries go away.

On one side, you have the Catholic 7, or the new Big East: Georgetown, Marquette, St. John's, Villanova, Providence, DePaul, and Seton Hall

And in the other corner, the Football Universities... or FU (no hard feelings, right, guys?): Syracuse, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Louisville, Notre Dame, Connecticut, and Cincinnati

Seven games, fourteen old conference rivals renewing acquaintances.

You could even go deeper and have the new schools join the fun. Butler, Xavier, Creighton, Saint Louis and Dayton (assuming they all join) face off with the likes of Rutgers, Boston College, Miami, Temple... and sure, USF, you can play, too.

Of course, my grand scheme of this challenge likely won't happen. My point is, though, that these teams should try to keep playing in non-conference games. Georgetown should keep playing Syracuse and Connecticut. I'd love to see Marquette continue to play Notre Dame and Louisville.

While I'm excited about the new Big East, I think it would be fun for college basketball fans to have flashes of the old Big East in the seasons to come.