The college athletics world is waiting on Missouri to decide whether it will stay in or leave the Big 12. It's been about a week since its Board of Curators delegated authority on conference allegiance to chancellor Brady Deaton, and we haven't heard much out of the school since.
Interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas has finally provided something of an update on the situation. He said today that if the Tigers do head out of the Big 12, it wouldn't be in time to join another conference for 2012. Therefore, the Big 12 will have 10 members next year no matter what. Given that the SEC is the most widely speculated landing spot for Mizzou should it leave the Big 12, it also signals that our humble conference will have 13 members next year.
Many questions still linger despite this new tidbit of information. If Missouri does bolt, who will the Big 12 go get to replenish the conference membership? Could the Big East survive as a football conference in that scenario? Does Missouri even have the votes to join the SEC if it wanted to?
Neinas is giving Missouri all the time it wants, saying that the school doesn't need to make its final decision until the end of this current academic year. The Missouri question appears like it will hang over us for quite some time to come.