West Virginia to the Big 12: Reports Say Mountaineers Are Leaving the Big East

Multiple sources, including the New York Times and the Charleston Daily Mail, are reporting that West Virginia will leave the Big East and join the Big 12.

The move will likely be the final crippling blow for the Big East, which was down to just six football member schools after the departures of Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the ACC last month.

West Virginia has been the most nationally recognizable team in the Big East for the past decade and losing such a notable team would really kill the conference’s credibility, which had been dwindling in recent years as it is.

The Mountaineers are likely to replace Missouri, who has been rumored to be close to becoming the SEC’s 14th team.

That would leave the Big 12 in strong shape for the future with 10 schools once TCU and West Virginia join.

The Big East, on the other hand, would be left with just five football schools—Rutgers, Connecticut, Louisville, Cincinnati and South Florida—and there’s a chance that with West Virginia leaving, teams like Connecticut and Rutgers could be looking for new homes as well, most likely in the ACC.

The conference was looking into a plan to invite notable non-AQ teams such as Boise State, Houston, SMU, Air Force and Navy, but it’s now doubtful that they would be enough to save the league’s automatic BCS bowl bid.

It’s sad to say, but if the reports are indeed true, this sounds like the death rattle for the Big East.

As a lifelong New Jersey resident and West Virginia alum, I have to say that it’s sad to see the conference I’ve been following for the last 10 years crumble like this, but in this era of conference realignment, when schools are putting their own personal financial interests ahead of prestige and tradition, I can hardly say I’m surprised.

While it’s enjoyed great success on the basketball court, as a football conference, the Big East has been slowly sliding downhill for the past three or four years, and it now seems to have finally hit rock bottom.

West Virginia was wise to make this move at this time, and while the Mountaineers won’t exactly be a great geographic fit for the Big 12, there are a lot of benefits to finding a new stable conference home.

Check out the article I wrote last week about why a move to the Big 12 would benefit West Virginia.