MIAMI -- The University of Miami filed suit against the Big East Conference and four of its member schools Monday, claiming it suffered "substantial monetary damages" by remaining in the league.

The school also filed a separate lawsuit against the University of Connecticut for defamation. Both were filed in state circuit court in Miami.

Miami will seek an undetermined amount in damages, said Eric Isicoff, the school's attorney.

"There's a lot of issues here about the harm that's been caused," Isicoff said. "It's going to be a huge sum of money."

Big East spokesman John Paquette acknowledged that the conference had seen the lawsuit, but had no comment regarding it.

The four other league members named in the suit are Connecticut, West Virginia, Rutgers and Pittsburgh -- schools which are currently suing Miami, alleging it was involved in a conspiracy with the Atlantic Coast Conference to weaken the Big East.

Miami and Virginia Tech -- the league's premier football schools -- are leaving the Big East to join the ACC after the current academic year ends. Boston College is also leaving the Big East for the ACC, but perhaps not until 2006.

"We took this action very reluctantly, because we think litigation in this matter is neither productive nor desirable," Miami athletic director Paul Dee said in a release. "However, the barrage of lawsuits emanating out of Big East member schools have forced us to take steps to protect our rights and reputation."

The suit was filed in part because Miami grew tired of "just a continuous sea of defamatory comments," Isicoff said. Specifically named as making some of those comments was Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who, according to the suit, stated that Miami damaged Connecticut through an "illegal conspiracy," plus "secretly negotiate(ed) with the ACC" and made "false promises" to Big East members.

All of those comments were false, according to Miami's lawsuit, which further claims the comments were made on UConn's behalf and defamed Miami in a way that "injured ... its good name and reputation among the public."

Blumenthal said the lawsuits are unfounded and show that Miami is acting out of "fear and anger."

"Any harm claimed by the University of Miami plainly is self-inflicted or non-existent, and pales in comparison to the damage it has done to its Big East partners," Blumenthal said Monday evening.

Isicoff also said the school was a fraud victim and lost revenue because Big East officials never had any intention of resolving issues Miami had raised regarding "the way the conference was being administered."

The concerns included the ability of members to leave the conference, scheduling, marketing and television rights. They were raised by Miami in November 1999; by early 2001, the lawsuit claims, only two of the 16 concerns had been addressed.

"We remained on board and the result was we suffered lost revenues and have suffered additional harm since," Isicoff said.

Miami announced its decision to leave the Big East on June 30 and paid the league-mandated $1 million exit fee that same day, Isicoff said.

"Their reward for playing by the rules was getting sued,'' Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist said. "Today's action is totally understandable."