Report: Big East hopes to have exit plan for departing schools soon

Big East officials decided in a conference call on Friday that they want to determine an exit plan for the seven departing Catholic schools within a few weeks, which would allow the seven schools to leave the conference by the summer of 2014, ESPN.com reported.

The seven departing schools then plan to form their own basketball conference in the fall of 2014.

The conference call focused on an exit strategy for the seven Catholic schools, rather than on plans for expansion.

According to the report, the remaining Big East schools still expect a legal fight with the departing schools for the Big East name.

The seven departing schools are Georgetown, Providence, Seton Hall, St. John's, Marquette, DePaul and Villanova.