WVU to join Big12 beginning in 2012

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West Virginia has been invited to join the Big 12 Conference, college football industry sources told CBSSports.com Friday.

The Mountaineers will accept the invitation, sources said. The Big 12 is expected to officially announce the invitation later today.

The Big 12's board of directors voted Friday morning and chose West Virginia over Louisville. They will stay at 10 schools, a source said.

On Tuesday, West Virginia had received a verbal offer to join the Big 12, but then the league put the Mountaineers on hold because the league’s board of directors wanted to perform “due diligence.”

The league was split between adding West Virginia or Louisville to replace Missouri, which is expected to leave the league for the SEC.

Missouri still hasn’t officially left the Big 12. The Tigers are still negotiating an exit fee to leave the league. The SEC’s Digital Network, an official website of the SEC, accidentally posted a story Thursday night that Missouri would join the SEC on July 1, 2012.

If Missouri joins the SEC next season, West Virginia still may have to wait until 2014 to leave the Big East for the Big 12.

The Big East has a 27-month notice before teams may leave the league. West Virginia is the latest team to announce its leaving the Big East Conference. Pittsburgh and Syracuse are headed to the ACC and TCU will join the Big 12 next season.

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