West Virginia filed a motion to the Providence County Superior Court on Nov. 29 to dismiss the Big East's lawsuit against West Virginia (click here to see the motion).
According to West Virginia's motion:
- the school filed suit to "protect the integrity and success of WVU's athletic programs."
- the Big East's contains "virtually the same facts and claims asserted in the earlier-filed West Virginia litigation"
- and, is "an entirely unwarranted attempt to sidestep the jurisdiction of the West Virginia Circuit Court, which is the appropriate court to hear this matter."
West Virginia believes the Big East's complaint should be dismissed because:
- "The [Providence County Superior] Court lacks jurisdiction over WVU"
- WVU is an agent of the State of West Virginia, even described (later in the motion) as "an alter ego of the State of West Virginia"
- WVU's lawsuit "which involves the same parties in interest and subject matter" was filed first in the proper court
- The Big East, by filing in Rhode Island, is trying to gain an unfair advantage in the matter (think of the West Virginia taxpayers, the motion says later)
Other tidbits: The school's 2008 suit against former head football coach Rich Rodriguez is cited as proof that WVU is an agent of the State of West Virginia and not independent from it.
The motion says that Rhode Island stay their action because: "To the extent that the Big East filing can fairly be seen as either tactical or propelled by an unstated mistrust of the West Virginia judicial process, these motivations should be seen for what they are - a cynical attempt to escape the proper jurisdiction of the state court of a member school."
West Virginia amended the part of the suit where they said UConn left the conference instead of Syracuse.
No hearing date has been set. Stay tuned as we wait for more on the legal battle.