Florida Atlantic basketball coach Mike Jarvis likes what the seven Catholic basketball-based schools from the Big East did in breaking off to form their own conference.

He just wishes they had made the move when he was part of the league.

Jarvis was coach at St. John’s from 1998-2004 and was pushing even then for some independence from a conference that always seemed to favor football.

“I was one of the guys — and I wasn’t the only one — who felt the Big East should have done that a long time ago,” he said during a visit to Dayton for a game Saturday. “We saw the landscape changing, and the NCAA was just letting anything happen just to save their own selves.

“When you see football going the way it’s going, it makes all the sense in the world. And what they should do — and I don’t know if Xavier will let them — but Xavier and Dayton should be the two teams from Ohio in the Big East. This is a great place. This school deserves to be in if they want to be in.

“But I think it’s a great move. I’d like to see more schools just form basketball leagues.”

The “Catholic 7,” as they’ve come to be known, haven’t revealed their plans yet. But the new league almost assuredly will include Xavier and Butler because of their NCAA tournament success. Dayton is probably on the bubble if the league stops at 10 teams with its prime competition coming from Saint Louis.

If Georgetown, Marquette, St. John’s, Providence, DePaul, Seton Hall and Villanova want to expand their footprint and are concerned primarily about TV markets, then SLU probably wins out. If it’s a comparison between basketball programs, it’s no contest.

The Billikens made the NCAA tournament last year and won a game, but it was their first appearance since 2000. They’ve had two NIT berths in that span.

The Flyers have played in four NCAA tourneys and six NITs since 2000. They’ve finished in the top-35 nationally in attendance for 43 straight years. And they play in a venue that has hosted more NCAA tourney games than any other arena.

The size of the league is still unknown. Whether it’s 10, 12 or 16 probably will depend on which number would generate the most TV money for each of the Catholic 7.

Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News isn’t so sure those schools are making a wise choice. He believes since the football-centric power conferences are driving the bus, hoop programs at least need to be riding in passenger seats to be in position to speak up for their interests.

But he has opinions about what the Catholic 7 should do next. He said they should pick Dayton even if they stop at 10.

DeCourcy believes the Flyers would have much to offer a new league, particularly a fan base that’s second to none.

“I’ve been everywhere, and I really firmly believe they have the most loyal fans in American sports,” he said. “I was there covering Memphis in the mid-1990s when the Flyers won 10 games (combined) in two years, and the building was still close to full. I’ve never seen anything like that before or since.”