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Source: Big 12 to accept WVU soon
The Big 12 has told West Virginia it will be accepted into the conference pending formal approval, which could happen as soon as later Tuesday, a Big 12 source said.
Earlier Tuesday, multiple media reports said that West Virginia was headed from the Big East to the Big 12.
West Virginia will be accepted into the conference as a replacement for Missouri, which the conference believes is departing for the SEC. However, according to the source, West Virginia's acceptance into the Big 12 is not contingent on Missouri leaving.
The only thing holding up Missouri's departure is legal concerns, according to multiple reports.
The Big 12 still wants Missouri to play in the conference next season, as to not open the possibility of television renegotiations if the league were to drop to nine teams. The conference feels comfortable at 10 teams but still will consider 12 teams in the future, the source said.
The Big 12 is adding West Virginia because of its football strength, having finished in the BCS standings in four of the past five years, as well as the men's basketball program having reached the NCAA tournament six of the past seven years.
The Big East could try to keep West Virginia for up to 27 months and negotiations on that point would figure to ensue.
At a Big 12 board of directors meeting on Monday, the conference urged Missouri to stay -- and Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton, who had been given permission by the university's governing body to make decisions on the future of the university's athletic program, did not inform the conference that Missouri intended to leave.
But late Monday, Deaton gave some clue as to Missouri's intentions, giving a statement to KOMU-TV in Columbia, Mo., in which he wished the Big 12 "the best and all of that."
"There's no delays here at all," he said, referring to the school's step toward leaving the Big 12. "There's some very specific things that have to be addressed. We want to address those. We really can't rush these things. These are things you can't rush."
The Big 12 also is discussing a conference media network, which a source said could even include content, if not games, related to the University of Texas, which founded its own Longhorn Network in association with ESPN.
Neither conference would confirm Monday that West Virginia was moving from the Big East to the Big 12.