Oliver Luck remembers he was in a car, on the way to a West Virginia-Maryland football game in College Park, Md., when he got the call and found out. Pitt and Syracuse were bailing on the Big East to join the ACC. West Virginia’s athletic director was shocked. And he knew on that day — Sept. 17, 2011 — he had no choice but to make his own move.



“I remember thinking, ‘Oh, gosh. I’ve got some work to do,’ ” Luck said.



When he arrived at Byrd Stadium, Luck sat down with Big East commissioner John Marinatto, who had just been blindsided by the news himself. Luck says he can’t recall the reassurances Marinatto offered that morning because, truthfully, he wasn’t listening. He’d already made up his mind. Their conference was suddenly down to six football schools. The Big East was not going to survive. West Virginia had to get out.



Luck found Jim Clements, West Virginia’s president, at the game...