The acrimony between the West Virginia Mountaineers and the Big East Conference reached its zenith--or nadir, really, depending on one's perspective--Friday afternoon when the Big East filed suit against the university in Rhode Island's Superior Court, seeking an order for West Virginia to comply with the conference's bylaws. The Mountaineers want to begin play in the Big 12 as soon as next season, while the Big East would rather they didn't. This news comes from Brett McMurphy of CBSSports, who's followed the Mountaineers' attempt to leave the Big East extensively.
The suit comes just days after West Virginia filed its lawsuit against the conference, citing its "ineffective leadership and breach of fiduciary duties." The university's contention is that the Big East did not do enough to keep itself viable as a football conference, which led to the departures of top football clubs the Syracuse Orange, Pittsburgh Panthers, and TCU Horned Frogs.
The Big East, meanwhile, wants WVU to comply with the conference's 27-month notification deadline. The university paid half of the $5 million relocation fee up front in order to ease negotiations as it tried to wriggle out of waiting over two years to join the Big 12, but it appears as though the Big East wasn't impressed.