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The back-and-forth saga between West Virginia and the Big 12 appeared to be at its end Friday, with the conference formally inviting the Mountaineers to join, CBS Sports reported.
The Big 12's board of directors voted Friday morning to invite West Virginia over Big East rival Louisville, and will stay at 10 teams, CBS reported. An official announcement from the conference is expected later Friday.
Earlier this week, multiple reports indicated that West Virginia was set to accept an invitation to join the Big 12, replacing Missouri, which is expected to leave soon to join the SEC.
But on Wednesday, the move was unexpectedly put on hold as Louisville attempted to sway the Big 12 decision-makers at the last minute, with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) lobbying on the Cardinals' behalf.
West Virginia's US senators, Democrats Jay Rockefeller and Joe Manchin were also involved. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Big 12 officials were split on which school to invite.
Missouri's move to the SEC still has not been finalized. On Thursday night, the SEC's website posted an announcement stating that Missouri would join on July 1, 2012, but the conference later announced that the story was published by accident.
