West Virginia University athletic officials spent most of Tuesday preparing to leave the Big East Conference for the Big 12. The Mountaineers’ athletic director, Oliver Luck, was so sure of the move that he tipped off Big East colleagues Monday night and told staff members Tuesday.
But everything changed Tuesday evening, as the Big 12 backed off its assurances to West Virginia. Hard lobbying from another candidate from the Big East, Louisville, has created a heated race for the remaining slot in the Big 12 that Missouri is expected to vacate soon. (Missouri is still headed to the Southeastern Conference after it sorts through its exit issues with the Big 12.)
A person with direct knowledge of the situation said it was “too close to call” between West Virginia and Louisville.
Two other people with direct knowledge said that the lobbying of the Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, had helped Louisville. His communication with Oklahoma’s president, David Boren, a former senator, and Texas Tech’s chancellor, Kent Hance, a former congressman, played a role in raising Louisville’s fortunes. Hance confirmed that McConnell called him to push Louisville.
Although West Virginia still has a chance to join the Big 12, news of Louisville’s emergence sent a shock through the state.
“If a United States senator has done anything inappropriate or unethical to interfere with a decision that the Big 12 had already made, then I believe that there should be an investigation in the U.S. Senate, and I will fight to get the truth,” Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, said in a statement. “West Virginians and the American people deserve to know exactly what is going on and whether politics is interfering with our college sports.”
Hance said that he would welcome West Virginia if it were to become the league’s 10th team, but that Manchin’s comments sounded like a politician seeking re-election.
“Mitch McConnell talked about the merits of Louisville and nothing else,” Hance said. “Why shouldn’t he be sticking up for Kentucky? I think the guys from West Virginia got caught flat-footed not sticking up for West Virginia.”
Hance said he understood that West Virginia offered greater television appeal than Louisville, but said that Texas Tech was concerned about travel difficulties.
“The opposition to West Virginia had to do with the distance,” he said. He added, “All this TV stuff is important, but it’s not as important as the student-athlete.”
Senator Jay Rockefeller, Democrat of West Virginia, expressed a sentiment similar to Manchin’s, saying: “The Big 12 picked W.V.U. on the strength of its program, period. Now the media reports that political games may upend that. That’s just flat wrong. I am doing and will do whatever it takes to get us back to the merits.”
Don Stewart, McConnell’s spokesman, declined to comment. Boren did not return an e-mail seeking comment.
The move from the Big East to the Big 12 could be worth about $10 million annually, a number that could fluctuate depending on the caliber of the Big East’s next television deal.
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