In turn, Deaton resigned as chair of the Big 12 board of directors, a reasonable move given that the Big 12 is looking at expansion, and you can't have a member with a foot out the door leading the charge.
This all sets up Missouri's potential departure from the Big 12 and the possible end of rivalries with Kansas, Kansas State and Iowa State. Big 12 interim commissioner Chuck Neinas is scheduled to meet with Deaton today, the Star reported.
We've already heard months of rumors about Missouri being linked to the SEC. But I wonder if exploring conference affiliation means Deaton will be ringing up Jim Delany and the Big Ten. Mizzou seemed to be lusting for an invite to that league but was left behind after the Big Ten plucked away Nebraska last year.
Interesting note from Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com: In all the talk of Big 12 members granting their TV rights to the conference, there had been talk of doing so for six years. But Brown's latest report says conference members were talking about doing so for 13 years. That's definitely one way of finding stability.
As for the Border War, it sounds like it's in jeopardy. Kansas basketball coach Bill Self told the Lawrence Journal-World that he's not going to go out of his way to schedule Missouri if the university leaves the Big 12.
“I will say this ... the media is not going to dictate who we play. I’ll dictate who we play as long as I’m coaching here,” Self said. “I have no ill will toward Missouri at all, but to do something at a time that could be so damaging and hurtful to a group, I can’t see us just taking it and forgetting. I think that would be something that’d be talked about with our administration, and we’d make a decision that’s best for our place. They are making a decision that’s best for theirs. We’ll make a decision on a schedule that’s best for us.
“I am not going to schedule Missouri just to schedule Missouri. I’m going to schedule what’s best for us, period. That’s how it’s going to be.”
The potential biggest loser of all this realignment talk: Kansas City. Would the Big 12 really hold its basketball tournament in a state with no members? If the league expands back to 12 members, would the league hold its football championship at Arrowhead? I doubt it. I hope this is all a high-stakes game to force concessions from Texas in regard to the Longhorn Network and not a real threat of Mizzou departing.
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I have no idea what you're talking about. I talked to everyone here, and no one touched it. Post it again.
You douchebags edited my comment about Bill Self out from last night. Nice work you freaking censor's. Nothing in the comments was derogatory. wTF?
Bill, you don't get to make big boy decisions like this that take away MILLION$$$$$ of dollars of revenue from your university. MU KU has been played over 100 years. You will be but a blip on the PHOG wall and they will still be playing, payin, and hatin. Coaches come, and coaches go. 1 national championship does not make a god.
From Tigerboard.com
Hey Dennis Dodd...
just read your blog entry, Missouri official looking (unofficially at SEC). Let’s assume for a minute that somehow Governor Nixon’s remarks in fact “kicked off this latest round of realignment”. Of course that makes no sense at all since you clearly state his remarks were in response to a statement that the Big 10 was considering expansion. Wouldn’t that mean that the statement of the Big 10 considering expansion was the triggering event for realignment since Nixon wouldn’t have said anything were it not for that statement?
Let’s leave that gaping logic hole aside for a moment and look at what was happening at the time of that statement by Nixon. Missouri, with an 8-4 record, was just passed over for Insight Bowl (who selected the 6-6 Iowa State Cyclones) and the Independence Bowl (who selected the 6-6 Texas A&M Aggies). This did not sit well with Missouri fans especially coming only a year after having Big 12 Commissioner Don Beebe publically shill for getting the rival Kansas Jayhawks into a BCS bowl during the game in which the Tigers defeated said Jayhawks. When your own conference commissioner won’t go to bat for you, you have to go to bat for yourself.
No one outside of the administration knows what happened in those initial talks with the Big 10, but Missouri was not chosen to bring that league to 12 members. Instead, Missouri pledged it’s loyalty to the Big 12 along with every other remaining member. This summer, as Texas’ new Longhorn Network came into being, rumors began to swirl that Texas A&M was perhaps looking to join the SEC. This created instability in the Big 12 and once again Missouri was put in a position to look out for its own best interests. Oklahoma President David Boren announced that Oklahoma was not going to be a “wallflower” in all of this and started to explore other conference options. Just when it seemed they were leaving for the Pac-12, the Pac-12 decided it didn’t want conference killer Texas and Oklahoma’s options disappeared.
If the Big 12 really wants to find what forced Missouri’s hand in all this, it need only look in the mirror. Instead of working to create a Big 12 Network to benefit all members, Texas decided that it was better than its conference brothers and created the Longhorn Network. Missouri fans were tired of being treated like doormats and when an opportunity arose to perhaps get out from under the thumb of Texas, we all got excited. While Missouri may never win an SEC championship in football, it will not feel like a second-class citizen any more nor will it have to worry about conference stability. As the saying goes, “I’d rather die on my feet than live on my knees.”
So the story is about MU possibly joining the SEC and you interview Bill Self? You just demonstrated the KU bias in KC.
Considering all that Missouri has to offer (Two TV markets, blah, blah, blah), it is pretty telling that they are the one's fawning over these other conferences. Way to sell out history to go try to be in a worse position competitively somewhere else.
Congrats MU, you are fucking over every MU owned sports-related business in Kansas City. Doubt we'll ever see the basketball tournament in KC again after 2014. Hello, Oklahoma City.... ugh.
In terms of (more local) tv market share and recruiting, I could see V. Tech going. But MU would bring much the same. The difference - imo - would be quality of opponents each play; MU regularly lines up against sterner programs than VT.
Still...
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