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The Big 12 welcomed West Virginia from the Big East and bid goodbye to Missouri before the Tigers even had a chance to finalize their move to the Southeastern Conference.
Now that the poaching of the Big East seems to be over, the beleaguered league is not backing down. It has been busy courting six schools and says it was braced for the latest loss. And despite what the Big 12 says, the Big East plans to keep West Virginia for two more years — just as it has vowed to keep Pittsburgh and Syracuse away from the Atlantic Coast Conference until 2014.
The latest round of conference realignment appears to be winding down, but tug-o-war over who goes where and when likely will take a while to sort out.
The Big 12 completed its work Friday by adding West Virginia to become its easternmost member, joining Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Kansas State, Baylor, TCU and Iowa State.
The Big 12 said it expects to have 10 schools for the 2012-13 season, listing West Virginia but not Missouri, which is expected to complete its move to the SEC any day now.
"I wouldn't say that there won't be further expansion," interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas said on a conference call Friday evening. "But our mission was... to move forward with 10 teams at this point. That doesn't mean that there wouldn't be further consideration. But right now, we've got our house in order. We've got everybody signed up. We're looking forward to a very aggressive conference."
Ames, Iowa, is the closest Big 12 campus to Morgantown, W.Va., at 870 miles away, but that hardly matters. The Mountaineers bring a football program that has consistently been ranked in the Top 25 in recent years, and that's what counts most when it comes time to sell TV rights.
In April, the conference signed a 13-year TV deal with Fox worth $1.17 billion that kicks in next year and was based upon the league having 10 members.
The Big 12 leaders voted to add West Virginia, rather than closer Big East rival Louisville, on Friday morning.
West Virginia is one of the founding members of the Big East's football conference, created in 1991. Of the eight original members, only Rutgers remains. The Big East is trying to reconfigure itself as a 12-team football league and has been pitching itself to six schools, including Boise State. Now it will need seven to get to 12, though maybe not for a couple years.
While the Big 12's statement said West Virginia will begin competing in the 2012-13 athletic season, Big East commissioner John Marinatto said the Mountaineers will be staying in the Big East for two more seasons.
"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 statement.
West Virginia president James Clements said the university's focus is on next summer's conference transition, although there will be discussions with the Big East.
"Our intent is clearly July 1 we'll be a member of the Big 12," Clements said.
Syracuse and Pittsburgh announced last month they would join the ACC, and Marinatto has been adamant about saying the Big East plans to hold them for two more seasons.
TCU was on its way to the Big East, set to join in 2012, before being diverted to the Big 12 earlier this month to take the place of Texas A&M, which was first to make the jump from the Big 12 to the SEC.
The Big East can't hold the Horned Frogs because they never started competing, but it does expect to receive a $5 million exit fee from them, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia.
Big East presidents two weeks ago agreed to raise the league's exit fee to $10 million, but not until it had received commitments from one of its two main expansion targets — Air Force or Navy.
West Virginia will not be on the hook for the doubled exit fee but clearly it will cost something for the Mountaineers to start playing in the Big 12 next season. Same goes for Pitt and Syracuse and the ACC.
Clements said West Virginia wired half of the $5 million exit fee to the Big East on Friday. The other half will be sent when the school actually leaves.
It appeared earlier in the week that the Big 12 had settled on West Virginia as its replacement for Missouri. But Louisville briefly re-entered the picture, and the Mountaineers' invitation to the Big 12 was put on hold.
"We felt very confident and comfortable with our position where we were," West Virginia Athletic Director Oliver Luck said. "I wouldn't be completely honest if I didn't say that we had a little bit of nervousness. We're just glad it's been finalized."
The Big 12, even before landing that big TV deal, distributed more revenue ($137 million) last year to its members than the Big East ($113), which will begin negotiating new TV deals next year.
