You know the story by now. West Virginia joined the Big 12 last Friday, and in a teleconference with interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas, expressed confidence that they would be in their new conference by July 1 of next year; the Big East has stated there’s not a chance in hell, and that WVU will abide by the 27-month notification period written in the conference bylaws and they’ll do it with a smile, thank you. The result, of course, was the lawsuit by WVU against the Big East today.
The suit essentially accused the Big East of being unable to keep the football portion of the conference at a BCS-caliber level (keep in mind that doesn’t mean BCS wins or losses). Citing the departures of Syracuse and Pitt to the ACC and TCU to the Big 12, WVU claimed it had no choice but to leave because the Big East was the one not upholding their end of the BCS deal and was putting the school in an unforeseen circumstance.
(If you haven’t seen it, you can read the full version of the suit HERE)
As you would expect, Big East commissioner John Marinatto has responded to the suit, which you can read below:‘We are disappointed that West Virginia has adopted this strategy and cannot imagine why it believes it does not have to respect and honor the bylaws it agreed to as a member of the Big East. Based on an initial review of the lawsuit, it is clear that the allegations and claims in it are false and inaccurate. Certainly there is nothing in it that would justify WVU’s not fulfilling its obligations. To put it simply, a contract is a contract.
“Once we have reviewed the filing, we will explore all our legal options and will act vigorously to ensure that WVU lives up to all its obligations to our conference. In the meantime, this lawsuit will not interfere in any way with our ongoing efforts to strengthen and expand the Big East.”