This thing may be getting uglier by the day. Both conferences are in a precarious situation. I wonder what the back up plan is for the B12 if WVU gets screwed by the courts?
While sitting through a lengthy motions hearing in Monongalia County Circuit Court Monday afternoon, in which attorneys for WVU and the Big East argued over the validity of WVU’s lawsuit against the conference, I came to realize that this whole legal battle could get a lot uglier before it’s eventually resolved and that WVU has a tougher challenge ahead to prove the accusations in its lawsuit than I originally thought.
It seems to be the prevailing wisdom around here that the issue will be decided around a conference table rather than in a courtroom. Most seem to think that WVU will just have to pay a hefty penalty ($20 million has been thrown around) and will be on their merry way to the Big XII. But, I get the sense that the Big East is not so willing to let the Mountaineers go for any amount of money and seem ready to fight it out until the bitter end.
If the Big East refuses to relent WVU could be placed in a very precarious position.
When you really think about it, the longer this legal battle wages on the better it is for the Big East. WVU has repeatedly told the Big XII that it will be free and clear to join that conference next year. WVU athletic director Oliver Luck says his department is focused on being in the Big XII next year and not concerned with the lawsuits. That could all be public posturing with negotiations going on behind the scene, but after briefly talking with Big East attorney Benjamin Block I get the feeling that the conference thinks it has a very good case against WVU and Block is a very good attorney with a history of legal victories representing the NFL.
The conference seems very reluctant to negotiate any type of buyout. To back up that assertion, the Big East Conference has recently filed for a preliminary injunction that would force WVU to stay in the conference until all the legal wrangling is finished. In it the conference says no amount of damage award would cover the harm that WVU would cause by leaving the conference early. That doesn’t sound like someone willing to accept a buyout.
If the injunction is granted, what recourse would the Mountaineers have other than to go back on its promise to the Big XII and play in the Big East next year?
What is not clear is what will happen if WVU loses and simply defies all legal orders and goes to the Big XII next season anyway. What if WVU has two sets of schedules and opts to play the one set forth by the Big XII? By all indications the Big East is going to put WVU on the schedule for all its members next year and so will the Big XII.
The Big East has a good case when it says, “There would be irreparable harm to the schools if WVU isn’t in the conference [next season].†It would be virtually impossible for the other seven Big East schools to find a replacement game if this situation is not resolved until the summer. Likewise goes for the Big XII.
Big XII interim-Commissioner Chuck Neinas told reporters when he visited Morgantown this fall that the Big XII must have WVU in the conference next year for scheduling purposes because Missouri is leaving for the SEC. That’s not to mention the ramifications of the Big XII television contract. Neinas says the conference needs ten teams in order to supply enough games to meet its obligations under the league’s television contract.
It’s all very messy right now, and I am becoming less and less confident that WVU will be able to sue its way out of the Big East and into the Big XII. If an out-of-court settlement is not reached I’m not so sure WVU can win at trial and if not it will become a scheduling nightmare for teams in both conferences.
While sitting through a lengthy motions hearing in Monongalia County Circuit Court Monday afternoon, in which attorneys for WVU and the Big East argued over the validity of WVU’s lawsuit against the conference, I came to realize that this whole legal battle could get a lot uglier before it’s eventually resolved and that WVU has a tougher challenge ahead to prove the accusations in its lawsuit than I originally thought.
It seems to be the prevailing wisdom around here that the issue will be decided around a conference table rather than in a courtroom. Most seem to think that WVU will just have to pay a hefty penalty ($20 million has been thrown around) and will be on their merry way to the Big XII. But, I get the sense that the Big East is not so willing to let the Mountaineers go for any amount of money and seem ready to fight it out until the bitter end.
If the Big East refuses to relent WVU could be placed in a very precarious position.
When you really think about it, the longer this legal battle wages on the better it is for the Big East. WVU has repeatedly told the Big XII that it will be free and clear to join that conference next year. WVU athletic director Oliver Luck says his department is focused on being in the Big XII next year and not concerned with the lawsuits. That could all be public posturing with negotiations going on behind the scene, but after briefly talking with Big East attorney Benjamin Block I get the feeling that the conference thinks it has a very good case against WVU and Block is a very good attorney with a history of legal victories representing the NFL.
The conference seems very reluctant to negotiate any type of buyout. To back up that assertion, the Big East Conference has recently filed for a preliminary injunction that would force WVU to stay in the conference until all the legal wrangling is finished. In it the conference says no amount of damage award would cover the harm that WVU would cause by leaving the conference early. That doesn’t sound like someone willing to accept a buyout.
If the injunction is granted, what recourse would the Mountaineers have other than to go back on its promise to the Big XII and play in the Big East next year?
What is not clear is what will happen if WVU loses and simply defies all legal orders and goes to the Big XII next season anyway. What if WVU has two sets of schedules and opts to play the one set forth by the Big XII? By all indications the Big East is going to put WVU on the schedule for all its members next year and so will the Big XII.
The Big East has a good case when it says, “There would be irreparable harm to the schools if WVU isn’t in the conference [next season].†It would be virtually impossible for the other seven Big East schools to find a replacement game if this situation is not resolved until the summer. Likewise goes for the Big XII.
Big XII interim-Commissioner Chuck Neinas told reporters when he visited Morgantown this fall that the Big XII must have WVU in the conference next year for scheduling purposes because Missouri is leaving for the SEC. That’s not to mention the ramifications of the Big XII television contract. Neinas says the conference needs ten teams in order to supply enough games to meet its obligations under the league’s television contract.
It’s all very messy right now, and I am becoming less and less confident that WVU will be able to sue its way out of the Big East and into the Big XII. If an out-of-court settlement is not reached I’m not so sure WVU can win at trial and if not it will become a scheduling nightmare for teams in both conferences.
