MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas said Tuesday he fully expects West Virginia to start play next season despite a hard-line stance from the Big East.

Neinas attended a reception in Morgantown officially welcoming the Mountaineers into the Big 12 on Tuesday, a day after the university filed a lawsuit against the Big East seeking to clear the way for West Virginia to start Big 12 competition next fall.

Neinas, West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck and university president James Clements were peppered with questions about the lawsuit and the timetable on the Mountaineers' Big 12 debut.

"I'm not concerned because I trust the two gentlemen on each side of me, that's why," Neinas said.

The Big East has said it plans to keep West Virginia from leaving for 27 months under the league's bylaws.

Luck and Clements declined comment on the West Virginia lawsuit.

The suit, filed in Monongalia County Circuit Court, seeks to declare the Big East bylaws invalid, claiming the conference breached its fiduciary duty to West Virginia by failing to maintain a balance between football-playing and non-football members.

When Neinas was asked what happens if the Big East is successful in delaying West Virginia's quick exit, "then I guess for the first time in college football history, we'll have home and home" schedules, he joked. "Oklahoma State told me they don't want to play Oklahoma twice."

On a serious note, Neinas said: "We fully expect West Virginia will be there."

Neinas, Luck and Clements tried to keep the focus on the Big 12's newest member during the packed reception at the school's football stadium, which included a pep band playing the Mountaineers' fight song. Neinas even wore a striped gold tie and blue shirt in West Virginia's school colors.