[HolyHandgernade]

http://www.tigerboard.com/boards/list.php?board=1

I hear from a good source close to the Neinas organization that this is all to get a better deal out of current Big 12 negotiations. If Texas and Oklahoma are Nos 1 and 2 in this league, Mizzou figures it is No. 3 if it can flex similar muscle.

What do they want?

First, they want a 12 team Big 12. Texas and Oklahoma would rather keep it to 10 teams, which eliminates that pesky Big 12 championship game standing in the way of national title hopes. But they're not ready to lose MU over that and will agree to expand to 12.

What they are possibly willing to go to battle for is MU's other position. In a 12 team league, MU wants Texas and Oklahoma in the same division and MU in the other. Texas and Oklahoma want to be in separate divisions. MU's proposal to Neinas was to be in a division with ISU, KU, KSU, Team No. 11 (presumably Louisville) and either Team No. 12 (if Cincinatti) or Baylor.

In Mizzou's eyes, they're in the champ. game 5 out of 10 years in this kind of division, giving them a shot. Of course, this would mean BYU, Texas, OU, OSU, TTY and presumably TCU would all be in the South, a terribly unbalanced situation.

Neinas proposed adding the highest quality new Big 12 member team (BYU? TCU?) to the North for more balance. Complicating matters: OU and OSU must be in the same division and MU refuses to be in a division with Texas.

FYI- the Texas proposal to Neinas was for Texas and Kansas to be in a division together.

So... this is really about MU trying to set itself up in a lucrative perpetual winning situation in football, or bolting to the SEC, where they'll have fewer wins but much more security.

Stay tuned.