I don't think they have anything to hang their hats on. I think you are ascribing to WV way too much logic, because to normal people, like you and me and the rest of the world, like to think an organization - supposedly devoted to the education of young minds - and run by people with college degrees - would not take such bold and outlandish positions without some merit, somewhere, in the particular position. That's a rule of logic - people act rationally - that is so often violated in real life. We like to believe, it makes the world a little safer. But I don't think WVU has any position at all. I think they they are acting in pure survival mode, real or perceived. Maybe real. "We have to get out of here for our safety and survival. It's like we are trapped in a collapsed mine shaft. If we don't get out of here, take risks to get out of here, we are going to die right here. We have to do it before the Big12 changes its mind, or something else happens over there, we have to do it now. It is going to be dangerous, costly, we are going to pay, we might not make any money for a couple of years due to the damages we will have to pay, but we have to do this. And we will do this. The cost of not doing it is greater than the cost of doing it." This is a trait peculiar to West Virginians, something they all understand. The parable of the mine. They are miners. I remember Ollie Luck stating a few months before they bolted, "The University of West Virginia is, and will remain, a relevant player in the national landscape."
Something like that. And he meant it. And I think they are leaving.
