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Mike DeArmond:

By Mike DeArmond - Posted on 24 October 2011

COLUMBIA – Interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas has told The Star that Missouri did not submit a letter of conditional withdrawal nor did it notify the Big 12 Conference on Monday of its plans to leave.
“The conference encouraged Missouri to stay in the Big 12,” Neinas added, referring to a statement to be released by the league concerning the Big 12 Board of Directors meeting on Monday in Dallas.
When asked if following its release Neinas could be asked for further guidance, Neinas said: “You could, but I won’t give you any.”
But Monday night, in an interview with KOMU-TV, Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton added some perspective, including a statement that he wished the Big 12 “the best and all of that.”
“So we’ll see where that goes,” Deaton added.
The Big 12 release was at best noncommittal:
“In a regularly-scheduled meeting today at an undisclosed Dallas area location, the Big 12 Conference Board of Directors reaffirmed previous action to execute institutional grants of Tier 1 (over-the-air) and Tier 2 (cable) television rights to the Conference.
“The Board also discussed a wide range of topics including NCAA legislation, the Bowl Championship Series, and exploration of a Conference dedicated TV network.
“Additionally, a strong desire for the University of Missouri to maintain its Big 12 affiliation was expressed. All 10 member institutions and TCU participated in the meeting.”
Across Internet message boards poured frustration from Missouri fans anticipating the school would give the Big 12 formal notice of its withdrawal, if not announce its application for membership of the Southeastern Conference.
Some expressed skepticism that the Big 12’s statement was truly reflective of what transpired when Deaton met with his contemporaries at an undisclosed location in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.
There was no evidence provided Monday that Missouri had made any move away from the Big 12, despite the Missouri Board of Curators having authorized Deaton last Friday in Kansas City to act as he best saw fit in exploring Mizzou’s options for conference affiliation.
But Deaton said, in the interview with KOMU at Columbia Regional Airport, that there were “no delays here at all.
“It’s the kind of thing you can’t rush. I know fans get impatient.
“Let me say, I’m very sympathetic, but what I hope they will understand is that it’s not a set of issues that one can press a button and be done with.”
Deaton indicated the Big 12 is “making some of the right moves, now, that are necessary for the Big 12 to do, and I wish them the best and all of that.”
If that sounds like the right moves are coming too late to deter Missouri from joining the SEC, well that is a widely-held belief among those who want Missouri to bolt the dysfunctional Big 12.
Meanwhile, in Columbia, a long-time Missouri supporter wondered over the choice Mizzou has still not publicly made between the
Big 12 and the SEC.
“Tiger John” Cleek, like his father before him, “Mizzou Mo” Cleek before him, has sold appliances and home furnishings to the folk living in Columbia and mid-Missouri for decades.
He has been a Missouri fan all his life.
“Truthfully, I had held out hope that the Big 12 could maintain its stability, just because I’ve been for 55 years a Missouri fan,” Cleek said. “That we could keep our traditional rivals.”
But Cleek expressed confidence in Deaton and Missouri athletic director Mike Alden making the decision that might be necessary to send Mizzou’s athletic ship of state into SEC waters.
“Financially we’ve got to make this thing work,” Cleek said. “They’re in position to have the information and the knowledge that those of us here don’t have.
“It’s going to be a very major decision, but when you’ve seen in the last 16 to 18 months where Oklahoma and Texas both just about left.
“My heart says I’d love to stay in the Big 12. But financially and in terms of long-term stability it looks like the SEC would be a real good opportunity for us.”
If Missouri did not immediately jump to cash in on that opportunity on Monday, Cleek seemed not troubled by yet another day going by without a monumental decision being announced.
“I think the chancellor is very much looking out for what is best at the University of Missouri.”
Over the weekend, many MU boosters said privately that a move to the SEC was a foregone conclusion, reflective of nearly a week of local and national media reports.
But what ultimately is decided to be the best for the University of Missouri, for now, remains in public limbo.