CBSSports.com is reporting that West Virginia University has been officially invited to join the Big 12 Conference, and that officials are expected to officially announce the Mountaineers' acceptance of the offer as early as Friday.
For roughly a week, reports of West Virginia to the Big 12 have surfaced, but those rumors cooled Tuesday when debate among the Big 12's board of directors arose regarding West Virginia or Louisville as the best possible candidate to replace all-but-officially departing Missouri.
As CBS' Brett McMurphy writes, there are several tangles ahead for an official timetable regarding West Virginia's move:
If Missouri joins the SEC next season, West Virginia 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.