Big East

Well, it’s official. Butler, Creighton and Xavier will join the new, Catholic 7-run Big East, just as expected. The moves, announced Wednesday, will be lauded, praised and explained as the “right ones” for all involved, and, really, there is nothing wrong with them.

Creighton breaks free from the Missouri Valley, where beating the likes of fellow mid-major toughies Wichita State and Northern Iowa was met with little more than a yawn outside of Omaha, Neb. Xavier ends an 18-year run with the Atlantic Ten in which it emerged as one of the staple programs for non-power-conference “near-excellence.”

Butler, meanwhile, bolts the same circuit after one campaign, essentially using it as a waiting room before entering into what it believes will be greener pastures.

The question is, will the new Big East offer greener pastures … for all involved?