MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia announced yesterday that it has settled a lawsuit with the Big East for an unspecified amount, clearing the way for the Mountaineers to join the Big 12 in July.

Athletic director Oliver Luck said the terms of the deal were confidential and the university wouldn’t release details. But Luck said no state, taxpayer, tuition or other academic dollars will be used in the settlement.

A person familiar with the agreement said the settlement totaled $20 million but did not know how much money would come from the university and how much the Big 12 might contribute.

Luck said the funding will come only from private sources and money that athletics raised independently.

Luck said the new conference alignment puts West Virginia among peers that are also large, public, flagship institutions for their states and have strong academic and research programs. Athletically, (the Big 12 is) a “challenging and competitive” group, he said.

The move is also lucrative: Luck said West Virginia should get about $18 million to $19 million a year in television payouts — nearly double what it gets from the Big East. Payments are being prorated for the first three years at 50 percent, 67 percent and 87 percent, he said, reaching 100 percent in the fourth year.

A spokesman for the Big 12 didn’t immediately comment, but the conference released its football schedule about an hour after the announcement. West Virginia makes its Big 12 debut on Sept. 29 at home against Baylor.

Luck didn’t rule out the possibility of a nonconference game against archrival Pittsburgh after the 2012 season but said a matchup would be “difficult to schedule.”

“It’s pretty obvious there will be no Backyard Brawl” in 2012, he said.

West Virginia sued the Big East in Monongalia County Circuit Court in Morgantown in November, challenging its bylaws in a bid to join the Big 12 in time for the 2012 season.

The Big East countersued in Rhode Island four days later, arguing that the university had breached its contract with the conference and should remain in the Big East for another two years as required in the bylaws.

Big East commissioner John Marinatto repeatedly had said West Virginia would not be allowed to leave until the 2014 football season.

But in a statement yesterday, Marinatto said the Big East board of directors voted to terminate West Virginia’s membership as of June 30. The board agreed to the deal because the university was willing to drop its lawsuit and pay an exit fee “well in excess of that required by the bylaws,” he said.

The university also agreed to have the West Virginia court enter a judgment that declares the Big East’s bylaws “valid and enforceable,” which Marinatto said was most important to his board.