When Villanova seemingly swept through what appeared to be a weakened Big East Conference last season, barely missing a beat outside of gigantic wallops to Creighton, it didn't seem quite right.

The virulent tangles between Syracuse and Georgetown, one of the greatest rivalries in college basketball since the '80s, had vanished. New faces dotted conference audiences, some from Creighton cheering Doug McDermott, others from Butler or DePaul trying to accept mediocrity.

But with the second chapter of the "new" Big East about to unravel in mere months, one thing has remained clear: there is still faith in what was once a power basketball conference, even if that faith hasn't been immediately affirmed in the play on the court.

"Georgetown, St. John's, Marquette and Villanova are at the base of it. That's how you build a strong conference," said Phil Booth Sr., father of Villanova freshman guard Phil Booth Jr.

"By time [my son] graduates, it's going to be a marquee conference. I grew up in the Patrick Ewing and Ed Pinckney era and I think it's going to be just as good when Phil's time is up."

And Booth Sr. isn't a slouch when it comes to understanding what it takes to make it through conference play, weak or strong. He led Coppin State to their first ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 1990 and now his son is playing for what was one of the nation's top teams last season.

But even a parent with the basketball knowledge of Booth Sr. knows the history of the Big East was immediately changed following a massive conference realignment at the end of the 2012-13 season.

In January, Villanova's Jay Wright said "it's going to take a couple of years" to figure out the new conference and that the league's coaches are "all guessing" when it comes to how the newly formed conference will play out. Last season, Georgetown's John Thompson III said he scheduled a hard non-conference schedule because of the new "uncertainty of the league."

But Stu Jackson, the Senior Associate Commissioner for Big East Men's Basketball, is more confident than most about the conference he looks over. He's expecting the future to look "very bright."

"The basketball purists should have an expectation that the quality of the basketball is at a level of excellence that they are used to," Jackson told SB Nation in a phone interview this week.

"The difference is that we retained seven of the iconic and traditional teams in the Big East and added three teams that, over time, will become ingrained as members of the Big East. Creighton got off to a terrific start last year, Xavier is poised to have another good year and Butler traditionally has been one of the better programs in college ball. Collectively we think these 10 schools will drive a high level of basketball."

He continued: "We continue to recruit some of the better athletes in the country which helps solidify our future. And the fans, beginning with this year, will once again become familiar with what the Big East brought in previous years but specifically what it will bring this year which is: some of the very best and highest level of college basketball in the country."

But on the other side of the positivity that many still maintain in the historic assemblage, there is a small dose of actuality coming from other coaches who come from similar conferences.

George Washington's Carmen Maciariello pointed out the Big East's marketing deal with Fox Sports 1, saying he knew "some people who didn't even know what channel Fox Sports 1 was on their TV." Drexel's Bobby Jordan said, "Fans might have to adjust" when it comes to the expectations that they usually had in the league.

The "Catholic 7" clashes between Seton Hall and St. John's now hold more meaning, but so do the annual brawls between Butler and Xavier. Fans from Omaha and the Main Line outside of Philly look forward to a second year of duking it out, this time without James Bell and McDermott. And even DePaul and Marquette can enjoy a Milwaukee vs. Chicago fracas two times a year.

It may never be the way the "old" Big East was or how some may envision this "new" Big East, but the once famous college basketball conference still has plenty to offer, specifically for its fans. Or the way Saint Joseph's Phil Martelli sees it, it's now a waiting game, for all non-football led conferences.

"The tradition is steeped in the Big East," Martelli said. "With all that ‘Nova and G-town and Marquette has accomplished and the buzz that was created by Doug McDermott and more, anybody and every league in the country that doesn't have football is holding our breath waiting to see how this will play out, and anyone who says they know how it will is foolish.

"This bus is being driven by the BCS leagues. They will get football sorted out the way they want and then they will look at basketball. Anyone that thinks the Big East is going to be damaged, has no idea. I couldn't say ‘in 2 or 3 years when this clears [the Big East] will be stronger or the A-10 will be positioned differently.' Everything is being shifted by those power conferences.

"We aren't even dancing their dance, we are just waiting to see what kind of music they are going to play."