University of Dayton president Dan Curran just spent six days doing work in the Far East but has been keeping abreast of the latest developments with the breakaway schools in the Big East

Dayton reportedly may have a chance to join a new league being formed by fellow Catholic schools Georgetown, Marquette, Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John’s, DePaul and Providence. Curran, who attended the Flyers’ game at Southern Cal on Sunday while returning from a trip to the UD institute in China, said the school has worked hard to make itself an attractive candidate.

“The Atlantic 10 has improved so dramatically with the addition of Butler and VCU. It’s a strong conference,” he said. “But we’ve been building up for more than 10 years to make our program — athletically, across the board — strong. And we want to be in a position to be considered, where we have to make a decision. I think we’re there in so many ways.”

Curran, who has led UD for 11 years, has relationships with many of the presidents of the “Catholic 7,” as they’ve come to be known. And the UD administration has made sure those decision-makers have ample information about the Flyers.

“They know of Dayton. They know what we’ve done. And I think that’s the key,” Curran said. “We’re just waiting to see what happens and making sure we’re in the right position and disseminated enough information that people know about UD’s status.”

Sports Ilustrated’s Pete Thamel, citing unnamed sources, has reported that the new league will include 12 teams. Xavier and Butler are sure things, he wrote for SI.com, and Creighton and Dayton are “are the next two on the list, and should be considered near definite.”

Many believe the TV market size will be a deciding factor, which would seemingly favor Saint Louis and others over Dayton. But Curran feels UD has something to offer the Catholic 7 in that department.

“They have a better understanding (than the casual observer) of our media market, which is very good,” Curran said. “If they look at the size of the media market, they miss the depth of the media market, the number of games we play on television. When UD plays, a very high percentage of the media market watches the UD game, unlike a lot of institutions.

“It’s our responsibility to be fully articulating what our media market is all about. And it’s a strong market.”

He added: “I think we’re in a very good spot. We’re clearly in the discussion and we’ve clearly put ourselves in a position where we can make a decision on where we want to be. That’s the key.”

Facilities first rate: The 10,258-seat Galen Center, which opened in 2006, is an impressive campus facility. The two-deck arena has sky boxes on both sides and an end-zone wall made of windows on the north end, providing a panoramic view of the Los Angeles skyline.

Several banners hang from the rafters, including the retired numbers of men’s basketball stars Bill Sharman (1947-50), John Ruddmetkin (’60-’62), Paul Westphal (’70-‘72) and Harold Miner (’90-’92) and women’s hoop greats Cheryl Miller (’82-’86) and Lisa Leslie (‘90-‘94).

Sunny (?) California: The Flyers spent an extra day in the Los Angeles, arriving Friday and staying in Marina Del Rey. They weren’t far from the Pacific Ocean, but they were kept too busy to make a trek to the beach.

It was too cold, anyway, with temperatures in the 50s.