The one odd thing about WVU filing a lawsuit so quickly (and filled with mistakes and typos) is why? Why go so drastically to the lawsuit? Not even an attempt to negotiate. This is some serious bridge burning. Not even the attempt to negotiate, make a bigger monetary offer. Nothing. It couldn’t purely be, because the Big East made previous statements about holding Pitt and Syracuse to 27 months.

If anything, trying to strong-arm their way out of the Big East would only force the Big East to dig in their heels a bit more. They can’t take a chance on then having to contend with more litigation from Pitt and Syracuse.

Well, what if the Big 12’s offer to WVU was contingent upon the Hoopies being in the Big 12 by 2012?

Neinas said West Virginia’s invitation to the Big 12 is contingent on the Mountaineers being available for the 2012 season. What? What does that mean? Does that mean if WVU can’t get out of its Big East commitments, the deal is off? Is that why West Virginia spent virtually no time negotiating with the Big East and went straight to a lawsuit? Big East bylaws declare a buyout ($5 million in this case) and a 27-month notification. What does the Big 12 do if West Virginia is handcuffed to the Big East in 2012?

“We needed a 10th member next season to fulfill our TV commitments,” Neinas said. “There’s an inventory that goes with a contract for TV, so we’ve got to be able to do that.”

In other words, the Big 12?s cushy cable contract with Fox Sports is kaput if the league has only nine members. If that contract loses some (or all) of its value, the Big 12 is back in anarchy mode.

It’s always about the money.

(more…)

WVU filed a lawsuit in its own state yesterday against the Big East. If you feel like wading through it, you can read it here (PDF). I’ve looked it over, but I haven’t practiced law in nearly a decade. So my opinion that it is pretty flimsy, but for the fact that they are attempting to have it litigated in West Virginia, is not really that of an expert. Would it surprise anyone to learn that the Circuit Court judges in Monongalia County, West Virginia all received their J.D.’s from WVU? Didn’t think so.

The gist of the case seems to be that the Big East is incompetently run, that the departures of Pitt, Syracuse and TCU means the Big East is not the conference they really joined, and that with those departures the Big East is doomed to lose their AQ status in the future. All of which, may (is) true, but irrelevant when it comes to the contract that WVU not only signed, but actively constructed:

…former West Virginia president David Hardesty, a lawyer, wrote the current Big East exit penalties, which include a $5 million departure fee and that 27-month waiting period.

I encourage everyone to read the analysis of the lawsuit by Brian Ewart of VUHoops.com. It’s a solid piece from a guy actually practicing law. I think he’s right about this primarily being about trying to force the Big East to negotiate an exit price, but I don’t think the Big East will back down on holding WVU (and Pitt and Syracuse) for at least one year.

(more…)