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 seven schools -- DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall and Villanova -- are "close to a consensus on what they want to do next," a source said Wednesday.

The presidents of the seven schools conducted a teleconference with Big East commissioner Mike Aresco on Thursday morning.

The presidents are expected to issue a statement on their schools' future in the next 24 to 48 hours, but a source from one of the Catholic schools told ESPN on Thursday morning that "our presidents continue to explore all possibilities."

If the seven schools decide to move to a new league, they would keep their automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. NCAA rules state that as long as a group of seven universities have been in the same league for five years, they would keep their bid after a move together.

On Sunday, the seven presidents met with Aresco in New York to discuss a number of options and "better understand the best course of action for the future," ESPN reported.

Sources told ESPN the seven schools discussed a number of options but most importantly wanted to have "lots of dialogue to better understand the best course of action for the future."

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

It's unknown whether they would attempt to dissolve the league or leave the league as a group. The league can be dissolved in a vote of the league members by a two-thirds majority, according to Big East bylaws. With all of the Big East's recent defections, only 10 members (the seven non-FBS schools plus Cincinnati, UConn and South Florida) can vote on the league dissolving.

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.

Sources said there are multiple legal entanglements that make the voting situation "complex."