NEWARK — Rutgers University yesterday accused the athletic conference it will soon leave of doing a $2.5 million end-run.

The university — which is challenging a $10 million exit fee from the former Big East Conference — said a portion of that fee was unilaterally withheld by the conference last month out of the annual revenue distribution it was supposed to pay Rutgers.

“Rutgers did not consent to this withholding, nor would it have if asked,” said university athletic director Julie Hermann, in a federal court filing in Newark.

“The conference’s withholding caused budgeting complications for Rutgers, as it unexpectedly came in the last week of Rutgers’ fiscal year, and less than a week before a massive restructuring of New Jersey’s public universities.”

The $2.5 million was also withheld two months before it was even due, under the terms of the disputed bylaws of the Big East.

Rutgers officials late yesterday declined comment.

The lawsuit against the Big East was filed late last year, literally within moments of an announcement by Rutgers that the state university would be joining the Big Ten Conference in 2014. At issue was how much the Scarlet Knights should be obligated to pay to walk out the door.

The university argued it should not be liable for a $10 million exit fee only recently set by the Big East, or wait 27 months to leave, because conference officials failed to apply those exit rules to other departing schools.

Accusing the Big East of breach of contract, Rutgers also charged the Big East with holding back millions of dollars owed to the university — claiming the conference never gave Rutgers its share of the $39 million in exit fees other schools paid to leave, according to the lawsuit.

With the recasting of the Big East caused by other defections, what remains is now called the American Athletic Conference, which is opposing Rutgers’ efforts to cut its exit fee obligations.

Rutgers contends it has a vested right to pay a withdrawal fee of only $5 million, while the conference contends that its membership approved an increase to $10 million in its Nov. 2012 bylaws. That charge was approved over the objections of then-Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti, who was not allowed to vote on the issue when the changes were made, according to the university.

In the court filing yesterday, Rutgers noted that it had made a $2.5 million payment last year to the conference, which it said represented two installments of the $5 million owed. It reserved the right to contest the ultimate amount owed.

"The practical effect of this payment, under Rutgers' position in this litigation, is that Rutgers' first payment covered both the first and second installments due under the bylaws that the conference contends to be in effect," the university stated in its brief.

But on June 24, the American Athletic Conference, in making its fiscal year-end distribution — which includes the sharing of revenues from what the conference was paid for TV and bowl appearances — held back another $2.5 million, attributing it to the university's second payment owed for the disputed withdrawal fee.

That left Rutgers with a $2.5 million hole in its budget on the eve of its restructuring with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

“The conference’s unanticipated withholding of $2.5 million in an improper fiscal year was not a mere bookkeeping issue; instead it resulted in complications for Rutgers in light of its occurrence on the eve of the closing of Rutgers’ books prior to this massive restructuring,” the university said in its lawsuit. At the same time, the university said even if the conference was correct in its argument over the withdrawal fee, the second installment was not due until Aug. 20. According to Rutgers, the conference similarly withheld a portion of the withdrawal fee from the University of Louisville, which also is leaving.

But after lawyers for the school called the play a breach of contract because it came two months before the payment was due, the money was restored. The conference, meanwhile, has asked for a dismissal of the Rutgers lawsuit.

“Under the conference bylaws, a member may withdraw provided it complies with certain requirements. Two requirements are pertinent here: providing at least 27 months notice and paying a $10 million withdrawal fee,” said conference attorneys in its own legal brief. “Rutgers does not want to comply with either.”

Conference officials yesterday declined comment, because it was ongoing litigation.

Staff writer Kelly Heyboer contributed to this report.

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