West Virginia joins Big 12

The Big 12 officially welcomed West Virginia from the Big East on Friday but Big East commissioner John Marinatto said the league plans to keep West Virginia for two more years -- just as it has vowed to keep Pittsburgh and Syracuse away from the Atlantic Coast Conference until 2014. "West Virginia is fully aware that the Big East Conference is committed to enforcing the 27-month notification period for members who choose to leave the conference," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Big East will stay busy courting six schools. TCU was on its way to the Big East, set to join in 2012, before being diverted to the Big 12 earlier this month to take the place of Texas A&M.

The Big East can't hold the Horned Frogs because they didn't compete, but it does expect to receive a $5-million exit fee from them, Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia. The league has agreed to raise the league's exit fee to $10 million, but not until it has received commitments from one of its two main expansion targets -- Air Force or Navy. The Big East's plan is to add Boise State, Navy and Air Force as football-only members and SMU, Houston and Central Florida as all-sports members.

Along with Louisville and Rutgers, the remaining Big East football schools are South Florida, Connecticut and Cincinnati. The Big East also has eight members, including Notre Dame, that don't compete in the league in football. Most are small private schools with strong basketball programs such as St. John's, Georgetown and DePaul. If the Big East can't complete its expansion goals, it could leave Notre Dame's football independence in doubt and start a whole new round of shuffling. -- AP