Hey, did you hear about the lawsuit the West Virginia Mounaineers are raising against the Big East over the matter of when WVU will be allowed to pull its athletic programs from the conference and place them in the Big 12 (full PDF available at Big East Coast Bias, by the way)? Yep, it's happening!
The suit was filed Monday in Monongalia, West Virginia by the WVU Board of Governors on behalf of the school. The core issue: the 2008 bylaws, which would require the Eers to remain in the Big East for another 27 months.
West Virginia contends the Big East has been unstable for more than a decade due to its football/non-football split, non-football schools have the power to enforce football-specific rules onto football schools and the conference is presently collapsing. These things are all true. The suit claims that the Big East is in such "serious jeopardy" that WVU "had no choice but to accept" the Big 12" invitation.
In addition to UConn's moves toward the ACC, WVU alleges the Louisville Cardinals, Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Cincinnati Bearcats have been in touch with the ACC, Big 12, SEC and Big Ten. We knew about Cincy and Louisville with the Big 12 and assumed Rutgers had talked with the ACC and Big Ten, but what's the SEC doing here?
If that part is true, then literally every remaining Big East football school has at least sort of tried to leave the Big East except for that long-time bastion of everything Big East, South Florida.
For more on the Mountaineers, visit West Virginia blog The Smoking Musket and Big East Coast Bias. And stay tuned here for more conference realignment news.