West Virginia and Big East: Will Mediation Bring a Settlement?

The latest development in the dispute between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Big East has been the non-binding mediation a Rhode Island judge has ordered.

Providence County Superior Judge Michael Silverstein has ordered the two parties to sit down at the table, starting Feb. 9.

Will these discussions lead to a settlement in time for the Big East and Big 12 to finalize their 2012 football schedules?

Will the mediation process bring the two together and settle the matter before it goes to court?

If the matter goes to court it's been estimated that a decision won't be reached until June. This may not give the schedule makers sufficient time with which to work.

Long Islands's Newsday wrote "WVU attorneys have said the university needs a resolution by June 30. But conference schedules will be filled out long before then."

And the Mountaineers also have non-conference games to be concerned with. Next year they play Florida State, Maryland, Marshall and a game with FCS Champion James Madison at Washington's Fed Ex Field.

An out-of-court settlement may be the best way for this dispute to end, but is this a real possibility?

It's probably not going to happen, at least not this year, if both parties continue to hold steadfast to what they claim are firm and attainable demands.

West Virginia's Metro News writes "Oliver Luck says he is confident WVU will be playing in the Big 12 next fall even though several lawsuits are still pending."

Maybe Luck has to paint the Big 12 logo on Mountaineer field before more folks believe him.

There are rumors out there that the Big 12 told WVU they need them for the 2012 season in order to secure television contracts.  And no one knows what happens if WVU fails to meet this deadline.

Chuck Landon of the Huntington Herald Dispatch writes "I'm not sure the Big 12 still will take WVU if the Mountaineers aren't on-board for the 2012 season. Remember, that once was a contingency for WVU's potential membership. Then, the league claimed it wasn't."

We do know that Pitt and Syracuse have handled their Big East exit plans differently than WVU. These two have made it clear they intend to honor their contract and wait for the 27 month waiting period to expire before leaving for the ACC.

According to Matt Hayes of the Sporting News "A high-placed Big East source told Sporting News that not only will the Big East not back off its 27-month notice of withdrawal for West Virginia, Pitt and Syracuse, but there’s “no chance” the three wayward universities can buy their way out of the contract."

Hayes also goes on to write "The reality is, West Virginia can simply leave and play in the Big 12 next season, but monetary legal damages of breaking that contract could make Texas A&M’s buyout from the Big 12 (estimated at $13-15 million) look like chump change – especially if Pitt and Syracuse are willing to wait to leave WVU alone in its contract defiance."

It is this author's opinion that Big East Commissioner John Marinatto is concerned about the continuity of the Big East schedule. I doubt he wants to see his teams scrambling at the last minute to find FCS teams to replace dates with West Virginia. It's not good for fans to have to see their team play more than one FCS team a season.

He probably wants the Big East to remain an eight team league in 2012 so he can get a better tv deal than he can with seven teams or less.

And there are other factors I'm sure that concern the commissioner: What about keeping the Big East automatic bid solid? And what happens if WVU jumps ship next year? Will it affect Pitt and Syracuse's promise to remain in the league until the end of the 2013 season?

Yes, it looks like a settlement won't happen until 2013, if at all.

In 2013 five new teams join the Big East. This will raise their football membership to 10, even without Pitt, Syracuse and WVU.

It just makes more sense for WVU to hold off. The chances of the Big East helping them with the transition to the Big 12 will likely be greater if they wait another year.

But what happens if WVU just leaves? Will the Big East be able to get an injunction to stop them?

It's hard to tell if a court would go as far as to issue an injunction in a case like this, but the a hearing for the Big East's request for an injunction has been scheduled.

The Metro News reports "The Big East's request for a preliminary injunction to stop WVU won't be argued in a Providence, Rhode Island courtroom until April 11, which would be way past the time that football schedules for the following fall are usually released."

It's a messy situation for WVU, the Big East, the Big 12 and for college football. And it's especially messy for all the schedule makers who have no clue what to do about next season.

Florida State Athletic Director Randy Spetman hopes their early season game with WVU will still be played next September.

News 4 in Jacksonville wrote "Spetman said he believes West Virginia should be able to work around the Sept. 8 date even if it moves to the Big 12. The contract calls for a $350,000 penalty if West Virginia does pull out, but it would cost Florida State much more to replace the Mountaineers on the schedule." 

So where's this all leading?

There are some questions that have to be addressed: With law suits filed by both parties, will there be too many bad feelings for West Virginia to try to slow things down and arrange to play the 2012 season in the Big East, with the hope of working out an affordable settlement in 2013?

If either party's case ends up in court, who wins besides the attorneys?

And if the Sporting News' Hayes has the situation figured correctly, how can WVU afford to pay the type of damages he's talking about for an early departure?

Shawn Falkenstein of the Metro News says WVU would pay a hefty penalty. He says, "$20 million has been thrown around."

So will the ordered mediation process lead to a settlement, one which would give schedule makers time to publish their 2012 schedules?

There's a famous saying, "every man has his price."  So do football programs, conferences and conference commissioners.

Let's see what happens next.