YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

    Explore news, videos, and much more based on what your friends are reading and watching. Publish your own activity and retain full control.

    To get started, first
    Dr. Saturday

    West Virginia and the Big East have finally parted ways

    By Graham Watson | Dr. Saturday – Tue, Feb 14, 2012 7:01 PM EST

    Big East commissioner John Marinatto (Stew Milne/AP)

    After months of lawsuits, threats and fighting, the divorce between West Virginia and the Big East is final.

    West Virginia will begin its new conference membership with the Big 12 this summer — and it only cost the university $20 million.

    According to ESPN, West Virginia will pay $10 million and the Big 12 will pay $10 million to break the Mountaineers contract with the Big East that would have kept them in the conference for 27 months from the time they announced their intentions to join the Big 12.

    "This closes a chapter and opens a new one filled with exciting possibilities for WVU's future," West Virginia director of athletic Oliver Luck said in a statement. "I've heard from Mountaineer fans across the country who have made it very clear that they are proud and honored to be heading into the Big 12."

    [College football's top recruiting overachievers | Underachievers]

    Luck guaranteed that no state or taxpayer money would be used to help pay West Virginia's debt, but would not disclose where the university planned to get the cash.

    Oliver Luck (Jason DeProspero/AP)The settlement ends more than four months of struggle that started with West Virginia filing a lawsuit against the Big East claiming that the conference had failed to remain the conference that members were promised. The conference countersued in an attempt to enforce its bylaw that stated a program had to stay in the conference 27 months after giving notice of a conference change.

    But last month, it was clear both sides wanted to come to a resolution, especially as the Big East started to cultivate its new membership.

    While the Big East does fair well with its $20 million windfall, it now faces the daunting task of trying to put together the 2012 football schedule with just seven football teams. It's possible conference rivals might be forced to play each other twice to make up for the scheduling gap.

    Marinatto told the Washington Post that one of the Big East's new teams — Boise State, San Diego State, SMU, Houston, Central Florida and Memphis — who were all slated to join the conference in 2013, could join next season, but declined to say which team.

    With West Virginia out, the Big East is now also considering allowing Pittsburgh and Syracuse to depart for the 2013 season. The two schools were set to join the ACC in 2014.

    [ACC spring football: Clemson among those with work ahead]

    Big East commissioner John Marinatto told the Washington Post the Big East's recent expansion efforts have allowed the conference to fill the voids left by the two schools and they no longer need them to stay the full 27 months.

    - - -
    Graham Watson is on Facebook and Twitter: Follow her @Yahoo_Graham

    Other popular content on the Yahoo! network:
    • Dan Wetzel: Feud between Peyton Manning and Colts owner gets uglier
    • Video: Knicks' Amar'e Stoudemire honors late brother with teardrop tattoo
    • ABC News: Bobby Brown denies he's been shut out of Whitney Houston's funeral

    Watch Full Count!
     

    7 comments

    • Flip
      Flip  •  Tulsa, Oklahoma  •  3 months ago
      Unlike the United States, the Big 12 will negotiate with terrorists. The Big East has now released West Virginia from bondage after demanding a large ransom which was paid. Yet they are stealing members from other conferences without remorse or regrets. Hypocrites!
    • Nisha
      Nisha  •  Greensburg, Pennsylvania  •  3 months ago
      Let Pitt and Cuse go now! If you can get one of the schools (probably Boise) come now, you can get two more.
      • Big Pimpin
        Big Pimpin 3 months ago
        Can't get any of the C-USA teams, their schedules are already set.
      • Nisha
        Nisha 3 months ago
        @Big Pimpin Good point.
    • BrandonT
      BrandonT  •  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  •  3 months ago
      The Big East is a mid-major conference and it's only going to get worse when they add all these new teams
      • Galacticus
        Galacticus 3 months ago
        Actually I think top to bottom the Big East is now stronger
    • richmeeting.com
      richmeeting.com  •  Redwood City, California  •  3 months ago
      welcome to our singles party
    • A Yahoo! User  •  Oklahoma City, Oklahoma  •  3 months ago
      Welcome West Virginia to the Big 12. I am an OU fan, but because of one of my good friends, a West Virginia fan I have been following your progress. Hopefully our conference will only become stronger with your presence. Last year, in my and others opinion, the Big 12 was the strongest conference in the nation. If the SEC had not been allowed to hide in their own weak conference for a NC game, OSU would have been the National Champions and in my opinion, they are. We have many very strong teams and I think your team will be a strong addition to the Big 12. Good Luck in the upcoming season.
      • BIG O
        BIG O 3 months ago
        I do not agree with you that you would have beat LSU or Bama, but Ok St should have been given a chance, Anyone can have one bad game (look at the NC game and your Loss) This is why I am in favor of some type of playoff ...........like every other sport
      • A Yahoo! User 3 months ago
        Agree BIG O. It is a #$%$ shame we and the rest of the nation will never know. We could argue who the best team was all day and neither one of us could prove it. Stats showed, OSU, was the number 2 team, according to the computers. Stats are sometimes deceptive, but it was the only unbiased opinion. The voting system created this travesty and had Alabama in a game they had no right to be playing in. As I said above, I am an OU fan, not an OSU fan. They destroyed OU in the bedlam game. The Fiesta bowl was a close one though. However, even after the let down of being excluded from the NC game, they managed to stay with Stanford and in the end, they won the game. I still say, after studying all the facts and after watching the seasonal matchup between LSU and Alabama, OSU would have defeated LSU. Thus, my opinion, I am sure you have one also.
      • Yaj Nettihw
        Yaj Nettihw 3 months ago
        I'm a WVU fan and OU has been my second favorite team since they stomped Penn State back in the 80's. OU was fun to watch back then. I look forward to the conference change, even if the transition from Rutgers and Pitt to Texas and Oklahoma is rough.
    • DAVID
      DAVID  •  Saginaw, Michigan  •  3 months ago
      The big east with wvu was far better than the acc. DONT take my word for it, just look at the facts in bcs bowl games.
      • randall
        randall 3 months ago
        BCS Bowl games are not indicitave of the strength of a conference from top to to bottom #$%$ In it's best year the Big East as a whole couldn't hold the ACC's jockstrap in football or basketball or academics or cash or history or prestige. You are now Conference USA 2.0. Enjoy.PS the ACC rejected West Virginia before it even asked to join. And they were your best team.
      • Danny
        Danny 3 months ago
        ACC sux in football...get real.WVU pounded the acc's best. I mean pounded them.
        And basketball in the ACC is good, but overrated. You'll see.
    • Yaj Nettihw
      Yaj Nettihw  •  Moscow, Russia  •  3 months ago
      WVU is the coolest team in the country because our AD looks like Frank Zappa.
     Post a comment

    Yahoo! Sports Authors

    Regular Contributors:

    Jim Weber, Kristian Dyer, Chris Chase, Nick Bromberg