West Virginia Headed to the Big 12

With Mizzou most likely leaving for the SEC, the Big 12 will add West Virginia to be its tenth member.  The formal agreement between the Big 12 and West Virginia could happen as early as tonight.

With WVU leaving the Big East, the conference is now on life-support.  The Big East now only has five (UCONN, Rutgers, USF, Cincinnati, and Louisville) football schools left.  Also, West Virginia won’t have to play the new $10 million dollar and will only end up paying half of that.  The reason is because the $10 million dollar fee doesn’t come into effect until either Air Force or Navy joins the Big East.

It isn’t certain whether or not the Mountaineers will be playing in the Big 12 next year.  The current Big East commisioner isn’t letting Pitt or Syracuse leave until their 27-month league notification expires.

This is a huge blow to the Big East.  West Virginia has been their best football program over the last decade and they might have to replace them with teams like East Carolina or Temple.  Big downgrade.  West Virginia has won the Big East five times in the last decade and is a great addition to the Big 12.  They have a big fan base and a lot of tradition and history.

A downside may be where they are geographically.  However, Ames is closer to Morgantown (home of WVU) than Lubbock, Texas (home of Texas Tech).