The rumors have been gaining steam for a while now, and now it looks like West Virginia will abandon the Big East and join the Big 12 after all. According to Lenn Robbins of the New York Post, West Virginia will join the Big 12 after Missouri leaves to join the SEC after next year. That would leave the Big East with just four teams that play FBS level football.This could be the biggest blow to the Big East in a season of pretty big ones.
"Of all the schools the league has lost, from a football standpoint losing West Virginia would be the most damaging," a source told The Post. "Despite what anyone says, that's the program the league has hung its hat on."
All of this is contingent, of course, on Missouri ultimately leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC. According to that same article, the Big 12 met recently and Missouri will likely stay in the Conference for an additional year. But that doesn't mean that they no longer want to join the Conference and they still might do it eventually. If and when that happens, West Virginia will reportedly be the school that replaces them in the Big 12.
We'll have plenty more on this situation as it develops, but for more on West Virginia football, head over to The Smoking Musket.