WVU Cleared to Join BXII Next Season
ESPN article here. Will reportedly pay a settlement fee "well in excess" of the buyout stipulated in the bylaws; user Charlestown Chiefs and ESPN are both saying $20m.
My big hope here is that Pitt and Syracuse are allowed to enter into the same enhanced buyout and leave for the safety of the ACC immediately.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:21 AM ^
And the the remnants of the Big East can join the MWC-Sunbelt superconference, and then we can finally relegate them all to the FCS.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:26 AM ^
Give the ACC the Orange, bring the Cotton back to elite status, sign a ninety-nine year contract with the Pac for the Rose and bring conference number two's into the other former BCS bowls. Then, institute a campus site playoff for four teams and be done with it.
Everyone else can have a 96 team playoff that they can even call the "Universe Supremecy Game" for all I care.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:29 AM ^
The amount is 20 Million.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:33 AM ^
I note that the ACC has yet to release its schedule for next season.... even by glacially slow ACC standards (the ACC is typically the last to do so) this is late. Makes you wonder if they're holding out for the possibility of adding two teams.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:56 AM ^
IIRC correctly they have 2 versions of a 2012 schedule already made up: one with Pitt/Cuse and one without so I think your theory is spot on. Pitt/Cuse should be trying hard to GTFO at this point.
February 14th, 2012 at 1:06 PM ^
FWIW, the theory I would put my money on is that they'll play in the Biggish Eastish in 2012 and that'll be their last year. The other working theory that's floating around for the ACC schedule delay is that they're waiting for FSU to find a replacement for WVU on their noncon schedule.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:35 AM ^
Not sure if they can afford to make the jump when freedom costs 20 million. The Big XII is supposedly coming up with 9 million of that money, not sure if the ACC will pay to spring their guys.
February 14th, 2012 at 11:42 AM ^
Just moved to Pittsburgh and was gonna catch a WVU game as long as it was an away Michigan game and at a time it didn't interfere with my viewing of said Michigan games. Went to their website, no schedule. I guess i haven't looked into other conferences, teams etc but is that typical to have no schedule in place at all, 7 months before the season?
February 14th, 2012 at 12:09 PM ^
Somewhere Rich Rodriguez is banging his head against a desk over the hypocrisy.
February 14th, 2012 at 12:23 PM ^
In WVU's defense, they don't have the same douchebags running the university and athletic department as when RR left town. But it's still ironic.
February 14th, 2012 at 12:21 PM ^
WVU has Michigan to thank for letting them escape the BigEast. That RR buyout money helped their own buyout.
So, between this and us nabbing Beilein, I think we're even.
February 14th, 2012 at 12:48 PM ^
For your Syracuse perspective, we'd like to:
February 14th, 2012 at 3:35 PM ^
Is there any way the Big East gets a BCS bid now? How long are those contracts going? There has to be an exclusion somewhere that says if your conference is down to 7 teams, you're not getting a BCS bid, or something to that effect.
February 14th, 2012 at 5:17 PM ^
the Big East Everyone is a Winner Party early per various reports. We'll see if that happens (they need someone to fill all the WVU slots that just emptied out on the schedule). How do you like that backyard brawl, now, Pitt?
February 14th, 2012 at 5:00 PM ^
I just can't get over the idea that the Big XII is going to pay $9 million of WVU's settlement just to pick up another team, but apparently the epidemic of "ditching and switching", if you will, is at a point where the hope of long-term financial stability means more than geographic focus. The Big XII would spend less money trying to merge with the MWC / C-USA to form the Big Mountain USA Conglomerate or something like that.
Congratulations, I guess, Big XII, and good luck with direct flights to and from places like Ames to Morgantown.