NYTimes: West Virginia to the Big 12

[pap49cba]

Any BCS for Notre Dame has always been at-large; the basis for its at-large bid was changed a few years ago to what it is now (finishing top 8). The old rule allowed Notre Dame to qualify if it reached a certain number of wins (9, I think). That was the basis for its bids for BCS bowls in 2006-2007 and 2000-2001. Notre Dame's bid has never been tied to the Big East.

I think that's correct.

If ND was forced out of the BE their only issue would be finding a home for all of the non-football sports. And if all of the other major conferences took an "all or nothing" stand, they would have a major problem.