USF must fill date after WVU-Big East settlement

The University of South Florida is suddenly in the market for another football game in 2012.

 The Big East Conference announced Tuesday that West Virginia University will be "terminated'' from the league June 30 and permitted to join the Big 12 Conference, its new home.

The conference and WVU reportedly agreed on a $20 million settlement after WVU sued the Big East in November, challenging league bylaws in a bid to join the Big 12 in time for the 2012 season. The Big East had countersued.

 The Big East is left with seven football-playing members, including Pittsburgh and Syracuse, which already announced plans to leave for the ACC.

Big East commissioner John Marinatto previously has said he intends to enforce the league's bylaws, which stipulate that defectors can't leave until a 27-month waiting period has elapsed. Pittsburgh and Syracuse can't officially join the ACC until July 1, 2014, but CBSSports.com reported the schools will negotiate to move for the 2013 season.

 USF was scheduled to play at West Virginia this fall. USF Athletic Director Doug Woolard said last week that he anticipated the Mountaineers leaving the conference but was uncertain how the league would move forward with its 2012 schedule.

 The options:

•   The Big East could push to bring in a new member one season early. Boise State, scheduled to join as a football-only member in 2013, is a logical candidate. According to the Idaho Statesman, Boise State already is talking to the Western Athletic Conference about a home for its non-football sports.

 That could put USF in an unusual football scheduling position. The Bulls already have scheduled a nonconference game against Nevada for Sept. 8. If there's also a trip to Boise State next season, the Bulls could have two games west of the Rocky Mountains.

 The Big East will also add Central Florida, Houston, Memphis and SMU for all sports in 2013. San Diego State will join as a football-only member, as will Navy in 2015.

• Big East members could play one season with a seven-team league and scramble to find another nonconference game, a difficult proposition this late in the process.

• Big East schools could play a "mirror'' game against a conference opponent. For example, USF and Louisville might play twice next season. One game would count in the conference standings, the other would not. It would be an unusual step, but a one-season solution to a difficult scheduling problem.

A spokesman for the Big 12 didn't immediately comment on the deal, but the conference released its football schedule about an hour after the announcement. West Virginia will make its Big 12 debut on Sept. 29 at home against Baylor.

West Virginia Athletic Director Oliver Luck said the terms of the deal with the Big East were confidential and WVU wouldn't release details. But Luck said no state, taxpayer, tuition or other academic dollars will be used in the settlement.

A person familiar with settlement told The Associated Press the agreement totaled $20 million but did not know how much money would come from WVU or the Big 12.

According to CBSSports.com, half of the money is being provided by the Big 12, which released a 2012 football schedule Tuesday that included the Mountaineers.

Luck would only say the funding will come only from private sources and money that athletics raised independently.

WVU has already paid half of the required $5 million exit fee to the Big East.

WVU sued the Big East in Monongalia County Circuit Court in Morgantown in November.

The Big East countersued in Rhode Island four days later, arguing that WVU had breached its contract with the conference and should remain in the Big East for another two years as required in the bylaws. In late December, the judge there denied WVU's motion to dismiss.

Big East Commissioner John Marinatto had repeatedly said West Virginia would not be allowed to leave until the 2014 football season.

But in a statement Tuesday, Marinatto said the board of directors voted to terminate WVU's membership in the conference as of June 30. Marinatto said the board agreed to the deal because WVU was willing to drop its lawsuit and pay an exit fee "well in excess of that required by the bylaws."

He said WVU has agreed to have the West Virginia court enter a judgment that declares the Big East's bylaws "valid and enforceable."

With its recent additions, Marinatto said, "the future for the Big East Conference has never been brighter."

Luck said the Big 12 gives WVU "significant advantages" over the Big East.

"The Big 12 is a strong and vibrant conference academically and athletically," he said in a statement. "We look forward to the potential academic and athletic partnerships and financial opportunities that membership in the Big 12 offers."

WVU President James Clements called the partnership with the Big 12 "an investment in WVU's future."