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Unhappy with the direction of their conference, the DePaul Blue Demons are now poised to completely withdraw from the Big East along with a group of six other basketball-only schools according to a report by Mark Blaudschun of USA Today.
All seven of the Catholic members of the league are reportedly trying to leave for greener pastures, a group that includes Marquette, Villanova, Georgetown, St. John's, Seton Hall and Providence in addition to DePaul. Due to the watered down competition level and modest future projections for the Big East's television revenue going forward, representatives from the schools all met collectively to contemplate their future and came to the conclusion it was time to find a new conference.
The schools could withdraw as a group to eliminate any costly exit fees they would normally face individually, but would still face a two-year waiting penalty before being able to leave the conference. Unless the basketball-only programs make the risky but feasible decision to vote to disband the league entirely, the Blue Demons would still have two full seasons left as a Big East school alongside their peers. Only time will tell how everything will be handled by the sides, but it's safe to say that closure will not exactly be coming anytime soon.