To this point, everything said about the Mountaineers jumping ship has been speculation based upon rumors. People have said that "they're sources told them," or they "heard this or that." Nothing solid. When both West Virginia President Jim Clements and Athletic Director Oliver Luck were absent from the loss to Syracuse on Friday night people speculated that it must have something to do with the Mountaineers possibly joining the Big 12. (It was later found that Oliver Luck attended his son's football game at Stanford.) While these poeple could have been correct all along, it was hard for me to believe those rumors until it was reported from a credible source. That is not a slam on other bloggers, this was after all of the rumors and speculation from the before about West Virginia moving to the SEC. We know where that went. That is why it was difficult for me to believe the rumors of West Virginia to the Big 12 until it came from a well-known source.
This morning, that confirmation came.
The New York Post reported that WVU was lined up to leave the Big East for the Big 12. They reported that the Big 12 had a meeting yesterday to discuss that they would hold onto Missouri for another year before they leave for the SEC and have West Virginia replace them when they left. The board of directors also expressed a strong desire for Missouri to stay in the conference.
As few hours later, Mike Casazza of the Charleston Daily Mail reported that the move for West Virginia to the Big 12 was a 'done deal.' West Virginia will be subjected to the 27-month waiting period before they could leave the Big East and have to pay the $5 million dollar fine for leaving. The university had applied for and been accepted into the Big 12 and details were still being ironed out as to when the move would be formally announced.
Joe Shad of ESPN reported that West Virginia has been accepted pending formal approval which could happen as early as Tuesday. The league is accepting West Virginia based upon the strength of it's football and basketball programs, Shad reported.
The Big 12 also recently added TCU to the mix after that school rebuffed the Big East when Pitt and Syracuse announced their intentions to join the ACC.
The football schools in the Big 12, as of now, would be Texas, Texas Tech, Kansas State, Kansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Iowa State. Other schools have been speculated to join the Big 12 in the wake of West Virginia leaving the Big East such as Louisville and Cincinnati. That will make travel to conference games much more palatable.
What are your thoughts on WVU moving to the Big 12? Is it good for the school? How will it affect traveling to games? What about other sports?
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