...this thing is about to blow.

ESPN is now reporting that the decision (by the 7 basketball-only schools) to leave the Big East is imminent. As in, it could happen today (Thursday). Things have moved fairly rapidly since the Sunday meeting with Mike Aresco. Which, seems pretty damn funny coming from a bunch of schools that sat on their thumbs and looked on while the league was being pillaged. I figured they would stretch this out and ham-it-up until July (just before the new schools become voting members).

It also turns out that UConn's president is in full-on melt-down mode. It'll be ok Husky bros! Have fun in the Pioneer Football League!

The blurbs:

The presidents of the Big East's seven Catholic, non-Football Bowl Subdivision schools are expected to decide on their future in the Big East in the coming days, and it "would be an upset" if they remained in the league, sources told ESPN.

The presidents of the seven schools are scheduled to conduct a teleconference with Big East commissioner Mike Aresco on Thursday and are expected to issue a statement on their schools' future in the next 24 to 48 hours.

Sources said Wednesday it's becoming "more likely" the basketball schools will break away from the league's football members.

A source told ESPN on Wednesday that Temple, as a football-only member, has voting rights but can't vote on dissolution of the league. With Temple unable to vote, that gives the seven basketball schools enough votes to dissolve the league.

UConn president Susan Herbst has contacted officials from the non-FBS Big East members, pleading with them to stay in the league, sources told ESPN.

Ironically, Herbst, along with Cincinnati and South Florida officials, heavily lobbied to get out of the Big East and join the ACC when the league had to replace Maryland.

If the seven basketball schools leave the Big East, it will be a crippling blow to the Big East's media rights negotiations. Last week CBSSports.com projected the value of the Big East's media rights revenue between $60 million and $80 million.

If the Big East lost the seven Catholic basketball schools, it would decrease the value of the league's media rights by "15 to 20 percent," an industry source said.

RIP Big East. 1979 - 2012. You will be missed.