BREAKING: Missouri Board of Curators Delegates Conference Realignment Authority to Chancellor

Here we go again: The Missouri board of curators has voted unanimously to give Chancellor Brady Deaton the authority to explore other options for the Tigers conference realignment. In layman's terms, the SEC option is now in play.

This doesn't mean Mizzou will bolt the Big 12 -- after all, as some perceptive folks pointed out on Twitter, Texas A&M gave the authority to take a look at other conferences to its president. But so did Oklahoma. Instead, Missouri appears to simply be laying the groundwork for the talks to move forward.

Still, the curators would not take this step if they didn't want to seriously consider jumping to the SEC. You don't tell your boss you want to explore another job if you're really dedicated to the company. Even if you have a very understanding boss, it's still going to make things awkward.

We'll have more on this in the next few hours, and will be discussing it tonight at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT on our podcast, Team Speed Kills Now.