The Big East meetings begin next week in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and Bill Stewart is looking forward to the visit, if for no other reason than he knows others are looking forward to speaking with him: “I wonder why? I guess I said something.”

Um, that’s one way to put it. I suppose Stewart can have a little fun with it … not that he’s happy to be some sort of clairvoyant. Yet he did pretty much paint the picture two months ago with his proclamation the Big East might be in a little trouble if things a lot of people thought and still believe would happen actually did happen.

Now that some time and truth has transpired, Stewart doesn’t feel different about his words and only feels for the timing of his statement.

“The timing was bad,” he said. “It was rough because of the Big East tournament, but I told myself when I was going to be asked I was going to tell the truth. The people in New York weren’t mad.

“They were just like, ‘Why would you say something that was not needed to be said?’ So the timing was bad because of the tournament, but the deal is this: It was going to be said sooner or later.”