West Virginia University leaders said they were thrilled to be joining the Big 12 Conference in July, but the conference losing the Mountaineers is saying, "not so fast."
WVU president Dr. James Clements and Director of Athletics Oliver Luck joined with Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas and Big 12 board of directors chairman Burns Hargis to announce that the Mountaineers will begin competing in the conference's slate of sports on July 1, 2012.
The move culminates a week of speculation as to whether WVU or Louisville would receive the invitation to replace Missouri, which is expected to announce its departure for the Southeastern Conference soon.
WVU becomes the third school in the Big East to announce it will be leaving the troubled organization. Earlier this football season, both Pittsburgh and Syracuse announced they would be bolting to the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Clements said WVU paid the initial $2.5 million buyout fee to the Big East office Friday, adding that another $2.5 million will be paid at a future date. But Big East Commissioner John Marinatto said that wasn't enough.
"West Virginia is fully aware that the Big East Conference is committed to enforcing the 27-month notification period for members who choose to leave the conference," he said in a prepared statement. "We have taken West Virginia's possible departure into account as we have moved forward with our own realignment plans.
"We are confident that in the coming weeks we will complete our own realignment program, adding a number of high-quality members to remain among the top conferences in both football and basketball."
Clements said WVU's intent is "clearly July 1," adding university officials are in discussion with the Big East Conference to resolve the impasse.
"We have been good members of the Big East for a long time," Clements said. "I will leave it at that for now."
WVU has never played a regular season game against a Big 12 Conference school, though it has played Missouri in the Insight.com Bowl in 1998 and Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. The Big 12 Conference formed in 1994 and began competition in 1996 after the eight members of the former Big 8 and four Texas schools which were members of the former Southwestern Conference merged.
Of the nine schools expected to be in the Big 12 Conference in 2012, WVU has played Kansas once (1941), Kansas State twice (1930, 1931), Oklahoma four times, Oklahoma State three times, Texas once (1956), Texas Christian once (1984), and Texas Tech once (1937). Through the history of the WVU program, the team holds a 10-7 record against current member schools.
The move was put on hold earlier this week, as some reports indicated U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Louisville alumnus, was lobbying on behalf of his alma mater. Neinas, however, said the delay was caused to allow for discussions as to whether the Big 12 could accommodate an 11th team, should Missouri opt to stay or delay its expected departure.
"I wouldn't be completely honest if I didn't say we felt a little nervous," Luck said. "From our perspective, we felt confident based on our discussions. We were patient and felt very comfortable."
The Mountaineers would play a round-robin schedule in football, meaning they would play each member school once during the season. The Big 12 Conference does not stage a championship game.
"I don't sense any sentiment for the Big 12 to go back to a championship game," Neinas said. "Everybody plays everybody else. There are no byes."
That would leave WVU with only three openings for non-conference opponents. Luck said he would like to see the century-long rivalry with Pittsburgh continue, though he said he has not had discussions with Pitt's athletic leaders.
"We have developed a number of great regional rivalries," he said. "We will see how they will fit in."
Luck also said the impact of the increased travel will have to be resolved, particularly for the sports that rarely travel by airplane. Iowa State is the closest member of the Big 12, and it is nearly 900 miles away.
"In today's BCS geography, there is not a school that doesn't have at least one trip over 1,000 miles," Luck said. "It's no more, no less than many (what) many other institutions (face). We will work hard to minimize the missed class time."
Source: http://www.theintermountain.com/page/content.detail/id/547316.html
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