Its nucleus is composed of the " Catholic Seven " members of the original Big East Conference : DePaul University , Georgetown University , Marquette University , Providence College , Seton Hall University , St. John 's University , and Villanova University . In December 2012 , these schools chose to split from the football playing schools in order to focus on basketball , and in March 2013 reached a settlement , whereby they acquired the Big East Conference name , logos , history , and the rights to the men 's basketball tournament at Madison Square Garden . Butler University , Creighton University , and Xavier University also joined the conference on its July 1 , 2013 launch date . The conference also entered into a 12-year , $ 500 million television contract with Fox Sports , Fox Sports 1 ( FS1 ) , Fox Sports 2 ( FS2 ) , and Fox Sports Networks ( FSN ) and a 6-year television contract with CBS and CBS Sports Network ( CBSSN ) . On June 24 , 2019 the member schools of the Big East voted 10-0 to extend an invitation to the University of Connecticut ( UConn ) to " rejoin " the conference , which was accepted two days later
original Big East Conference
Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Big East Conference