I've been keeping a rundown on the schools that I've seen mentioned as expansion options for the new basketball centric Big East "Catholic 7" group. So when creating your fantasy version of the new league here's some data to base it on. The AP Poll is good for the top teams, but the RPI lets us sort all these potentials, and the Sagarin Ranking takes successes in previous years into account. Other factors folks might look at would be a school's academics, using this year's Forbes rankings, their city's rank in Neilsen's media market ranking, the size of their basketball arena, and proximity to the current seven schools. And because the conference is for more than just basketball, let's inquire if they play football or lacrosse.
In some order of likelihood:
Butler Bulldogs
- Highest 2012-13 AP Ranking: 9th
- Current RPI: 31th
- Sagarin Ranking: 48th
- Forbes University Ranking: 287th
- Neilsen Rank for Indianapolis: 26th
- Arena Capacity: 10,000
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 184 to DePaul
- Football: FCS
- Current RPI: 88th
- Sagarin Ranking: 69th
- Forbes University Ranking: 220th
- Neilsen Rank for Cincinnati: 35th
- Arena Capacity: 10,250
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 300 to DePaul
- Football: Club
Saint Louis Billikens
- Highest 2012-13 AP Ranking: 18th
- Current RPI: 34th
- Sagarin Ranking: 21st
- Forbes University Ranking: 257th
- Neilsen Rank for St. Louis: 21st
- Arena Capacity: 10,600
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 302 to DePaul
- Lacrosse: Men's and Women's
- Highest 2012-13 AP Ranking: 11th
- Current RPI: 45th
- Sagarin Ranking: 33rd
- Forbes University Ranking: 231st
- Neilsen Rank for Omaha: 76th
- Arena Capacity: 17,260
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 473 to DePaul
- Current RPI: 120th
- Sagarin Ranking: 70th
- Forbes University Ranking: 212th
- Neilsen Rank for Dayton: 63rd
- Arena Capacity: 13,435
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 304 to DePaul
- Football: FCS
- Highest 2012-13 AP Ranking: 2nd
- Current RPI: 10th
- Sagarin Ranking: 7th
- Forbes University Ranking: 228th
- Neilsen Rank for Spokane: 73rd
- Arena Capacity: 6,000
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 1,713 to Marquette
- Current RPI: 76th
- Sagarin Ranking: 90th
- Forbes University Ranking: 73rd
- Neilsen Rank for Richmond: 57th
- Arena Capacity: 9,171
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 110 to Georgetown
- Football: FCS
- Lacrosse: Club
VCU Rams
- Highest 2012-13 AP Ranking: 19th
- Current RPI: 35th
- Sagarin Ranking: 29th
- Forbes University Ranking: 518th
- Neilsen Rank for Richmond: 57th
- Arena Capacity: 7,617
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 108 to Georgetown
- Football: Club
- Lacrosse: Club
- Current RPI: 36th
- Sagarin Ranking: 53rd
- Forbes University Ranking: 443rd
- Neilsen Rank for Philadephia: 4th
- Arena Capacity: 4,000
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 14 to Villanova
- Football: FCS
- Lacrosse: Club
- Current RPI: 84th
- Sagarin Ranking: 68th
- Forbes University Ranking: 180th
- Neilsen Rank for Philadephia: 4th
- Arena Capacity: 4,200
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 7 to Villanova
- Lacrosse: Men's and Women's
St. Mary's Gaels
- Current RPI: 44th
- Sagarin Ranking: 37th
- Forbes University Ranking: 196th
- Neilsen Rank for San Fransisco: 6th
- Arena Capacity: 3,500
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 2,126 to DePaul
- Lacrosse: Women's
- Current RPI: 155th
- Sagarin Ranking: 133th
- Forbes University Ranking: 248th
- Neilsen Rank for Washington: 8th
- Arena Capacity: 10,000
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 21 to Georgetown
- Lacrosse: Women's
- Current RPI: 65th
- Sagarin Ranking: 83th
- Forbes University Ranking: 650+
- Neilsen Rank for Detroit: 11th
- Arena Capacity: 8,295
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 281 to DePaul
- Lacrosse: Men's and Women's
- Current RPI: 294th
- Sagarin Ranking: 283rd
- Forbes University Ranking: 406th
- Neilsen Rank for Albany: 58th
- Arena Capacity: 15,229
- Miles to Big East neighbor: 153 to Seton Hall
- Lacrosse: Men's and Women's
To see more data and schools, and how the current seven teams stack up in these same categories, with lots of nice colors, see the table here.