The Big 12 has informed West Virginia it will be accepted into the conference once there is formal approval, which could come as soon as Tuesday, a source within the conference said.
West Virginia will be accepted into the conference as a replacement for Missouri, which the conference believes is departing for the SEC. The only thing holding up Missouri's departure is legal concerns, the source said.
Multiple media reports Tuesday said the Mountaineers were headed to the Big 12. The New York Times quoted a source as saying that the Mountaineers had both applied and been accepted. The Times reported that only legal entanglements are preventing the move from becoming official.
The Big 12 still wants Missouri to play in the conference next season, as it does not want to open the possibility of renegotiating its television contract if the league were to drop to nine teams.
The conference feels comfortable at 10 teams but will still consider 12 teams in the future, the source said.
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 by 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 conference feels comfortable at 10 teams but will still 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. The Mountaineers have also gone to the NCAA men's basketball tournament six of the past seven seasons.
The Big East could try to keep West Virginia for up to 20 months and it's expected negotiations on a waiting period will ensue.
The Big 12 is also 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.
