The Big East and Atlantic Coast Conference have settled a lawsuit filed after three schools decided to leave one league for the other.

In October of 2003, Boston College officially decided to leave the Big East to accept the ACC's membership invitation, following in the footsteps of Virginia Tech and Miami-Florida. The move will become official on June 30.

The Hartford Courant has reported that Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and West Virginia have agreed to a settlement worth about $5 million. The agreement was apparently finalized on April 27, but the terms included a non- disclosure pact between the sides.

The Courant, though, obtained documents through a Freedom of Information request that showed UConn received a share of $1 million as part of the agreement. The paper also cited sources that said each of the other schools garnered the same amount, and the extra $1 million will be distributed by the Big East in some other way.

As part of the settlement, Boston College will not have to pay an exit fee to leave the Big East. After Miami and Virginia Tech left the conference, the fee was increased to $5 million. The extra $1 million could, in turn, serve that capacity.

The legal wrangling started in June of 2003, when the ACC announced its plans to expand from nine teams in an effort to form a 12-team league that would enable the conference to stage a lucrative football championship game.

The league targeted the Big East and lured Miami and Virginia Tech away, then followed by asking Boston College to make the move.

Miami and Virginia Tech decided to accept the ACC's offer later that summer and began conference play in August of 2004. BC, an original Big East member, will open ACC play with the start of the 2005-06 campaign.

The Big East responded to the defections by adding five members of Conference USA -- Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida, Marquette and DePaul.