VERNON, Conn. -- An attorney for the Atlantic Coast Conference filed a motion Monday to dismiss the Big East's lawsuit against the conference's expansion plans.

Four Big East football schools are seeking millions of dollars in damages claiming the ACC conspired with Big East member Miami to join the ACC and weaken the Big East. The lawsuit was filed June 6 in a Connecticut court.

Steven Errante, the New Haven-based lawyer representing the ACC, asked Judge Samuel Sferrazza to dismiss the lawsuit because Connecticut courts do not have jurisdiction over the ACC.

Errante said: "I'm as close to positive as you can get that this case is going to be dismissed."

Sferrazza scheduled a hearing on the ACC's motion for Sept. 29.

Errante said a Connecticut law that allows a lawsuit to proceed against an out-of-state defendant that has minimal contact with the state won't hold up. The lawsuit contends Big East members Connecticut, Rutgers, West Virginia and Pittsburgh have spent millions on their football programs based on presumed loyalty from schools they had been aligned with. The schools are seeking to recover what they say will be losses in ticket sales and broadcasting fees, and the cash value of diminished recruiting power and scarred relationships with donors.