This is such tremendous news. As a guy who grew up on Big East basketball and the Big East Tournament, it's probably something you don't quite understand the importance of unless you grew up in the northeast, and I felt a tinge of relief in my gut when I read this. Among all of the muck and bullshit of football driven conference realignment, basketball finally wins one. 
All of the history now remains with Georgetown, Villanova, St John's, Providence, Seton Hall. That was a big key to all of this. When those teams win championships, they are still winning Big East championships. All that remains behind from the old days is UConn, who will no doubt take their football elsewhere at some point anyway. 
The Big East lives.
Sometimes, the good guys really do win.