A federal judge today ruled that West Virginia University's lawsuit seeking a $4 million buyout from former football coach Rich Rodriguez must be heard in Monongalia County court instead.

The 16-page ruling, by Justice John Preston Bailey of the Northern District of West Virginia's federal court, means that the lawsuit -- filed in Monongalia County by university lawyers two days after Christmas -- may well move back into the Morgantown, W.Va., court in a matter of weeks, though an actual court date could come months later.

Jeff Wakefield, one of the university's lawyers, said the Morgantown court's first step will be to assemble all parties for a preliminary meeting within the next few weeks.

"We don't know when the court will want to set a status conference . . . [and] talk about the case," Wakefield said. It likely would happen in February or March, and "the court then typically will set a schedule to resolve the case" with a trial date. A judge also could compel both sides to negotiate.

In Bailey's ruling, he denied Rodriguez's lawyers the chance to move the case to federal court -- where West Virginia state law still would have been applied -- even though they claimed their client already was a resident of Michigan, where he currently coaches the Wolverines. He also denied a request by university lawyers seeking costs, expenses and attorney fees from Rodriguez's side.

"It was a ruling we expected," Wakefield said. "It was the right ruling."

Rodriguez lawyer Marv Robon was unavailable for comment.