Missouri will explore conference options

ST. LOUIS — The University of Missouri Board of Curators announced Tuesday that it has delegated power to MU Chancellor Brady Deaton to explore options for future conference affiliation.

This could be the first step in the process of Missouri departing the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference, although Deaton said the school is just beginning to consider its options and didn't rule out staying in the Big 12.

“The board of curators delegates to Chancellor Deaton the authority to take any and all actions necessary to fully explore options for conference affiliation and contracts related there to, which best serve the interests of the University of Missouri-Columbia and the University of Missouri system,” curator Warren Erdman said. “This action was taken unanimously tonight and is effective immediately.”

To avoid a conflict of interest, Deaton announced he had relinquished his role as the chairman of the Big 12 Board of Directors.

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Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman said last year he believed he had a strong argument against giving up any money.

'I'm also cognizant of the risks associated with litigation," Perlman said last year. "What I think is the law may not turn out to be the law. I'm disappointed, as an academic, that my curiosity about the legal claims won't be resolved. But when you look at everything, I think it made sense in this setting to get this behind us and avoid the risks of litigation.'"

Certainly the Big 12 believes this is a litigation risk as well, it's why the league ultimately settled with Nebraska for $9.25 million and with Colorado for $6.86 million.

That settlement represented 47.6% of the payout that both schools would have owed under the bylaws. If A&M and Missouri did the same with its projected $26.1 million that would come to $12.4 million.

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ST. LOUIS — It was described last night in the most innocuous way: Missouri would explore options for conference affiliation.

Realistically, the announcement was a resignation from the Big 12.

With the powers vested in Brady Deaton, the Tigers will be playing in the Southeastern Conference next year. Those words didn’t actually come out of Deaton’s mouth. During a brief press conference after a four-hour Board of Curators session, the MU chancellor said he would be “exploring options generally” and didn’t rule out staying in the Big 12.

But last night’s announcement that the curators had given Deaton permission to shop around wouldn’t have been made if minds weren’t made up. The last month was spent exploring options generally, and the next few weeks will be spent specifically pursuing a spot in the SEC. If Missouri stayed in the Big 12 now, the fan outrage would be a combo platter of J.C. Louderback math errors, Tyus Edney layups and Shevin Wiggins kicked balls — with a side order of Matt Painter snubs.

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The more that comes out, the more it seems that the SEC is holding out, has other plans, or is waiting again for legal reasons.

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The document anticipated Big 12 exit penalties of roughly $25.9 million — the low end of what other sources had feared could be as high as $40 million withheld over two years — and theorized a more likely exit fee would ultimately be $10.4 million if Missouri were to give the Big 12 two years of notice before departing.

Even without such notice, prior Big 12 departures resulted in only $9.62 million of penalties from Nebraska and $6.86 million from Colorado.

Another piece of information that Missouri officials did not want public — an anonymous MU official telling the AP last week that some MU officials might prefer a move to the Big Ten over the SEC even after the Big Ten invited Nebraska last year — caused a rift with certain SEC officials.

MU and SEC officials, however, appear beyond that bump in the road. Current issues in the SEC, according to reports, include Alabama not wanting to give up its traditional football game with Tennessee and not having Auburn gain a recruiting advantage in Georgia and Florida by shifting to the SEC’s East Division if Missouri were added to the West.

That next step toward the SEC, if it were to follow the scenario established when Texas A&M embarked on its move from the Big 12 to the SEC, could be Missouri formally notifying the Big 12 of its intention to leave.

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