West Virginia Football: Still No Settlement After First Big East Mediation

Late Thursday afternoon a Rhode Island court released a statement which read "the result of the Big East/WVU conference with Judge (Michael) Silverstein this morning is that the matter is continued to an unspecified date for another status conference."

Erick Smith of USA Today wrote "the lack of agreement Thursday leaves both the Big East and Big 12 in limbo. Neither conference has released football schedules for the coming season."

It's been a wild couple of days with rumors flying around about a settlement between WVU and the Big East which would allow the Mountaineers to join the Big 12 for the 2012 season.  This report makes clear that no settlement has been reached between the two parties.

Yesterday Mitch Vingle of the Charleston Gazette reported "West Virginia officials were willing to pay the Big East $11 million and are expected to receive money from the Big 12 Conference to help resolve all legal issues."

Vingle, in the same article, quoted CBS Sports who said the settlement agreement would be at least $20 million.

It seems the $9 million difference would possibly be made up by each Big 12 team coughing up $1 million.

There's been other reports that an early departure for WVU would be based on their ability to get one of the new Big East teams to join for the 2012 season.

This Orlando Sentinel wrote "the settlement is believed to be contingent on the fact the Big East can find a replacement for West Virginia for this season. If the Mountaineers left, that would leave the league with only seven football members."

There's a lot of information floating around out there, and a lot of it from reliable sources.  Who are you going to believe?

This reporter bets on the Rhode Island judge who said today he "doesn't appear to see a resolution in the near future."

But Mitch Vingle claims "Reports have it that Big East commissioner John Marinatto continued to state his league would require West Virginia to honor the league's 27-month exit agreement, although privately admitting the Mountaineers are leaving."

If Marinatto thinks their leaving, he hasn't made it any easier for them over the last few days of mediation.

The matter may take a new turn tomorrow: Tom Fornelli reports the Big 12 schedule might be published.

It could be a dramatic couple of days for WVU and the Big East.

The Big East, in anticipation of an early departure by WVU, has talked about teams playing home and home dates with another big east team next year.

The New Jersey Star Ledger has reported Rutgers has plans to play Syracuse twice in 2012 if necessary.

But what can WVU do without an agreed settlement?  If they just bolt, there's a possibility the damages a court may award the Big East could be a lot more than $20 million?  As of now, they can't even come up with more than $11 million.

The next couple of days are going to be real interesting for the WVU, the Big East, and college football fans around the country.

The script hasn't been written yet for the next development in this story.