It appears as though finally, mercifully, the massive college football realignment chatter that has plagued the airwaves for months is finally starting to piece itself together. No more conjecture, opinion and off the record comments. Just teams switching up conferences the way Derek Jeter does girlfriends. We are seemingly on our way to some sort of closure.
What started with Texas A&M’s move to the SEC last week, and Pitt and Syracuse to the ACC over the weekend took another step Tuesday, as it appears as though Missouri has been verbally invited to the SEC party, as the conference’s 14th member. Nothing is official, and it is all predicated on the final demise of the Big XII. But if (and likely when) that happens, Missouri will be joining their friends in the Southeast portion of the country.
Kansas City Star’s Mike DeArmond reported the following this afternoon:
The Southeastern Conference has an offer on the table for Missouri to join its league, and SEC officials are willing to wait for an answer from Missouri until the future of the Big 12 is decided.
That information has come to The Star through a Mizzou booster who spoke directly to a MU official. Another source told The Star on Tuesday that an Oklahoma official had said the SEC is interested in Missouri.
While you’d obviously like a source with a bit more oomph than a “booster who spoke directly with a MU official,” the news is legit (the KC Star is one of the best and most trusted newspapers in the country) and does seem to make sense.
As DeArmond later reported, the move won’t totally kick into effect until the Big XII completely dissolves, to avoid any type of legal reprecussion from the conference. But given Monday’s news that the Board of Regents at Oklahoma has approved the school to look at alternative options (mainly the Pac-12) and Texas has done the same, it appears the Big XII as we know it is on its last breath. If those two schools left town, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech would almost certainly leave along with them, with just five schools remaining in the Big XII. At that point, Missouri could head to the SEC with no legal action from the Big XII, leaving only Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State without a home. It should also be noted that the other prime candidate to be the SEC’s 14th team- West Virginia- was reportedly denied membership by the SEC Tuesday, giving more credence to the Missouri report.
Assuming that Missouri does head to the SEC, what would be most interesting is how the conference realigned its members. It has to be assumed that both Missouri and Texas A&M would join the Western Division, with the most likely candidate to move East as Auburn. There are also reports that Vanderbilt could be moved to the Western Division in addition to the two new schools, with either the two Mississippi schools or both Alabama schools heading East. In the latter situation, it would make for a loaded SEC East, with Alabama and Auburn joining the likes of Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina.
While nothing is totally official, it looks like Missouri and the SEC are set to walk to the altar together. Stay with Crystal Ball Run as this story continues to develop.
