West Virginia University doesn’t want to wait 27 months to join TCU and other schools in the Big 12 Conference. In fact, they’re suing about it.
WVU filed suit seeking to switch conferences Monday in Monongalia County Circuit Court. West Virginia wants to be released from a Big East bylaw that requires a 27-month waiting period before withdrawing from the conference, according to an Associated Press article..
According to the AP story, the lawsuit claims that the bylaw is invalid because the Big East “breached its fiduciary duty” to WVU by not keeping a “balance between football-playing and non-football members.”
“The Big East and its commissioner failed to take proactive measures to maintain, let alone enhance, the level of competition for the Big East football schools,” according to the lawsuit.
The suit claims that the Big East accepted a $2.5 million down payment on its $5 million exit fee and agreed to WVU’s immediate withdrawal, according to the AP article.
The lawsuit also cited the fact that TCU had its 27-month waiting period waived.
“That’s basically because [TCU] never started with the Big East,” Big East spokesman Chuck Sullivan told the Associated Press. “Because they had not formally joined the conference, which would have been July 1, 2012, they were subject only to the financial component.”
Stay with us as the story develops.
David Stein and Chelsea Katz contributed to this story.