Apparently not only Marquette belongs, as Louisville, Cincinnati, DePaul and South Florida will also be joining the exodus from Conference USA.

“The infusion of these five schools affords us incredible opportunities,” Tranghese said. “Right now, when you look at the makeup of our 16-team conference, these 16 schools represent well over 25 percent of all the television households in America — represent in excess of 27 percent of the population of America.

“This is going to provide a very, very unique opportunity for our league in the areas of competition, television and especially in the area of the media.”

The fiscal possibilities are staggering, but the new-and-improved basketball conference will be among the best, if not the best, in the nation. While C-USA was formed as a “football conference,” the new Big East has been formed with basketball as its bread and butter.

Two of the top three college players selected in last year’s NBA draft were from teams in the new Big East: No. 3 pick Carmelo Anthony and No. 5 Dwyane Wade.

It also comprised half of the Final Four in Syracuse and Marquette, as well as last year’s national champion, the Orangemen, and this year’s preseason No. 1, Connecticut.

“I consider the future for basketball greatly enhanced because of the schools that we’re bringing in,” said Villanova President the Rev. Edmund J. Dobbin. “I think three of them are nationally ranked preseason. So they already will enhance the league right upfront, a year hence when they come into the league.

“Already, of course, we have a very strong conference. The teams that we lost, at least from a basketball perspective, are not going to be a great loss to the league. I would say on balance from a basketball perspective, we’re better off with this. For that matter, also with women’s basketball, I think we’ll have a very strong women’s basketball conference.”

How the move will affect Marquette’s schedule is still up in the air. Tranghese said that there will either be a 16- or 18-game conference schedule.

He also said that not every team will participate in the Big East tournament — only the top 12.

“We have such an incredible commitment amongst these 16 schools that we’ll deal with it,” Tranghese said. “We don’t have to make a decision. One thing I can tell you is our presidents are committed to having everybody play everybody in this league.”

Women’s hoops will also benefit considerably. The Huskies are the defending national champs and preseason favorites to win another national title. Notre Dame, Rutgers and Villanova are perennial powers.

Women’s basketball coach Terri Mitchell grew up in Harrisburg, Pa., and remembers that the Big East was created when she was in the sixth grade. She explained how it was all the rage and that to be part of it now is an honor.

“Today is a marriage of Marquette and the Midwest to the prestigious Big East,” she said.

In what is now the 25th year of the Big East, Tranghese called the addition of the five teams the conference’s third phase. He said first came the foundation, followed by the creation of the Big East’s football conference in 1990. That was also his first year as commissioner.

“You know what the thing is, is that everybody looks at what’s going to happen tomorrow,” Tranghese said. “What (the Big East Conference) president says is, ‘Let’s talk about where we’re going to be three years from now, five years from now.’ I’m pretty confident where we’re going to be — I really am.”