http://www.rockmnation.com/2010/6/9/...u-links-6-9-10
Of course ... I would say that, at the very least, the odds of NU being gone are 50/50. That being the case, we have no choice but to look at what it means for Missouri. Actually, what it means is pretty simple: by Friday, Missouri could officially be inches away from both their best- and worst-case scenarios.
Best-Case Scenario
If Nebraska is gone, I highly doubt the Big Ten stops there. Doing so would give them their championship game and solidify their football and volleyball rosters. But Dave Matter and others put a lot of work into showing just how much of an impact the Big Ten's "footprint" could have on the Big Ten Network's revenue (I believe the figures were this: the BTN makes 70 cents a month off of subscribers in the footprint, 10 cents outside the footprint ... a gigantic difference), and no matter what Nebraska brings to the table, expanding their footprint only to include the Omaha and Lincoln markets (which combine to be the same size as Springfield/Columbia/Jeff City) would only represent a minor improvement in BTN revenue. Since very few markets even outside the footprint would be adding BTN to their packages with the addition of Nebraska (I'm sorry, but I still don't think cable companies are saying "I wasn't on board with Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State, but I'm now on board with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State and Nebraska!"), it wouldn't really make sense to stop with just the Huskers.
And maybe they're okay with not adding to the footprint ... but in a world where Nebraska's move to the Big Ten likely causes the formation of the Pac-16, which would encompass almost 40% of the nation's biggest markets, it would seem to me that the footprint and the BTN's potential new revenue would still be extremely important. The conference could still add Notre Dame to the roster if the Irish panic (I don't think it will happen, and besides, THAT wouldn't have any impact on the footprint either), which leaves at least one extra spot on the roster, since they wouldn't stop at 13. So I have to think that, in the shadow of the Pac-16 colossus forming to the west, Mizzou would either be fighting it out with Rutgers for the 14th spot on the roster, or joining Rutgers as the 13th and 14th members. I just don't think the Big Ten can stop at 12, considering what the fallout of NU-as-12th-member would create. Of course ...
Worst-Case Scenario
...given that supposedly the Big 12 is quickly kaput if Nebraska leaves, then Mizzou is also one step away from the Great Plains Division of the Mountain West Conference if the Big Ten decides we are not worthy of inclusion. And in some ways, that's not the end of the world. We'd still be in a wonderful position for basketball -- we'd likely be in a division with KU, KSU and Baylor at the very least -- we'd be in position to win the Great Plains Division rather often, and ... as I joked to The Beef on e-mail yesterday, wouldn't it be so much more relaxing to be separated from Texas?
Of course, that was a joke. In a world without a Big 12, clearly the Mountain West (which, in a BCS world, would likely qualify as a BCS conference, whatever it's actually called) would be able to find a decent TV deal for football ... but we're talking lots of 11:30 Fox kickoffs, games on Versus, and untelevised road games. Granted, that wouldn't be much of a step down from the current situation ... but it would absolutely be a step down. And while Mizzou could continue to recruit the state of Texas ... a) Texas is Pac-16 country now, and b) nobody's really going to care about the Mountain West ... at least not as much as the Pac-16, Big Ten and SEC. Recruiting would likely suffer.
So here's what I suggest: in the next two days, get on the phone to 1) any Big Ten executive you may know, 2) your deity of choice, or 3) Tom Osborne (who might soon qualify as both #1 and #2). Mizzou needs a good break now because, if NU is indeed leaving, the ball has officially begun to roll.