http://tinyurl.com/43ufvzqMU's move to SEC appears imminent
BY VAHE GREGORIAN
[email protected] 314-340-8199 STLtoday.com | Posted: Saturday, November 5, 2011 10:45 pm
Mizzou already was written in the Southeastern Conference's projected lineup for 2012 in a press release prematurely posted for a few minutes Oct. 27 by the SEC.
And it already has been deleted from the Big 12's anticipated membership for next year in a league statement welcoming West Virginia.
And finally, barring any twists, the formal announcement of what's been obvious for weeks is impending in Columbia, Mo., within days, possibly as soon as Sunday.
Although it hasn't been stated publicly, it's believed SEC presidents and chancellors already have voted in Missouri and that MU will be placed in the SEC East with Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
It's not yet certain whether the move will be for 2012 or 2013. MU has said if it makes a change it will be for next year; the Big 12 has said it's too late for MU to move for next year.
Reports on Saturday by Sporting News and CBSSports.com, each datelined from the SEC's high-profile LSU-Alabama game in Tuscaloosa, Ala., suggested the change will be made early this week, echoing but amplifying what has been understood locally.
Moreover, according to a Twitter post, SEC commissioner Mike Slive in Tuscaloosa playfully told The New York Times not to go on vacation after Slive was asked when Mizzou will join.
Through a spokesman, Mizzou athletics director Mike Alden declined comment Saturday night at the Mizzou-Baylor game. In his routine pre-game radio spot, Alden told interviewer Chris Gervino, "My hope for the not-too-distant future is that things will settle down soon."
No timeline has been outlined by Mizzou, but sources all along have suggested that MU's exit blueprint will be similar to that of Texas A&M's departure. Specifically, it was recently noted that after the legal wrangling was wrapped up, the SEC announced A&M had been accepted on Sunday, Sept. 25, and the celebration was the next day in College Station.
Since SEC leadership is thought already to have approved the move, in this case it's likely the next step is the announcement itself.
MU chancellor Brady Deaton last week canceled a trip to India largely to attend to finalizing the dynamics of a move that Mizzou has demonstrated its determination to make through numerous recent actions.
Those have included abstaining from voting on Big 12 matters and Deaton being empowered by the Board of Curators to negotiate a change of conference.
The negotiations have centered around the timetable for departure and exit fees. Missouri, of course, seeks to minimize the departure price tag, a case perhaps bolstered by the conference writing that it plans to be without Missouri and interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas' spoken stance that it would be "viable" without Mizzou.
Yet the withdrawal seems to have been complicated by the Big East intending to hold West Virginia for 27 months after notice, per Big East bylaws. West Virginia and the Big East are in the midst of suing each other.
If West Virginia can't go in 2012 and MU leaves, the Big 12 would be left with nine schools. The league says it needs 10 to supply mandatory inventory for its television contracts.
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