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Report: Missouri hopes to join SEC
ST. LOUIS -- The University of Missouri hopes to join the Southeastern Conference but would have preferred an offer from the Big Ten that never came, a school official told The Associated Press.
The person, who is familiar with the discussions involving conference affiliation, spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the school has not commented publicly about its intentions.
Missouri hoped to join the Big Ten last year but the league instead chose Nebraska. The university official said the Big Ten remains Missouri's top choice but that conference "has no interest."
"That's what's left," the official said, referring to the SEC.
Missouri's seven voting curators agreed unanimously Tuesday night to give chancellor Brady Deaton authority to look elsewhere rather than immediately commit to the troubled Big 12 Conference.
Just one day earlier, Big 12 leaders -- including Deaton -- agreed to equally share the wealth from the conference's most lucrative television deals if members agree to lock those top-tier TV rights into the league for at least six years.
The agreement is subject to approval by university governing boards -- a step Missouri curators don't want to take until the school is able to "fully explore options for conference affiliation ... which best serve the interests of the University of Missouri," board chairman Warren Erdman told The Associated Press.
The Big 12 is down to 10 members and will lose Texas A&M to the SEC next year after the departures of Colorado to the Pac-12 and Nebraska to the Big Ten.
The SEC members' athletic directors and commissioner Mike Slive met Wednesday in Birmingham, Ala., to discuss the logistics of Texas A&M's arrival. A conference spokesman said the meeting was called several weeks ago.
A possible addition of Missouri was not on the agenda, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting told ESPN.com's Andy Katz.
Slive has not ruled out further expansion, and Tennessee athletic director Dave Hart has said the SEC will eventually add members.
Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin said Tuesday the conference is in a wait-and-see mode on further expansion.
"The commissioner has done such a great job of positioning us and we continue just to kind of look for his guidance and for him to lead us in whatever direction we decide on," Stricklin said. "When he says, 'Hey, here's an idea,' we're going to listen to him. Until then, I think we are all very comfortable with where we are at 13 for the time being."
But South Carolina president Harris Pastides has said he doesn't "think 13 is a sustainable number, but I think 14 is." He added that he doesn't advocate growing to a 16-team league.
Besides being a fresh blow to the Big 12, a Missouri departure would threaten its long-standing rivalry with neighboring Kansas, one of the oldest in college sports. Kansas men's basketball coach Bill Self told the Lawrence Journal-World that the border showdowns may not continue if Missouri bolts.
"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," he told the newspaper.
Kansas athletic director Shannon Zenger was less forceful, appealing instead to the Tigers' sense of loyalty to the league.
"We believe the Midwest deserves a strong conference for student-athletes, fans and alumni, and it is our desire that Missouri will stay committed -- as Kansas is -- to the Big 12 Conference," he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
