Conference Realignment: The Best Scenarios for Where Missouri Will Land

Missouri has been the only one of the nine remaining Big 12 schools that has been noncommittal about staying in the conference for the long haul, and as it turns out, the possibility that the Tigers could actually leave just got a lot stronger.

Last night, school curators voted to explore ulterior conference options for the future.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Tigers are guaranteed to leave the Big 12, but it is definitely an interesting development.

Missouri has been talked about as a potential SEC target, but so far the talks haven’t risen above the rumor level yet.

It will be interesting to see how Missouri plays its hand in all of this, and if the Tigers do make a move, it could send a shock wave throughout college football and start up a whole new wave of college football realignment talk.

With that in mind, let’s have a look at Missouri’s most likely options.

SEC

At this point, the most logical landing spot for Missouri is the SEC.

For the last month, it’s been reported that there has been a mutual interest between the two parties, although SEC officials have denied ever sending a formal invitation to the Tigers.

It makes sense, considering the conference now has 13 members after adding Texas A&M.

Although I’m certainly no mathematician, even I know that you can’t split 13 teams evenly in two divisions.

If the SEC reels in the Tigers, the conference could simply put Missouri and Texas A&M in the West division and shift Alabama and Auburn to the East.

Since it’s the most powerful conference in college football already, the SEC doesn’t have to further expand to 14 teams, but it would make the most sense for balance within the league and Missouri would be a great fit for the conference.

Big Ten

The Big Ten was rumored to have some substantial interest in Missouri last summer during the first big wave of expansion.

The conference ended up taking Nebraska out of the Big 12 instead.

At the time, Missouri and the Big Ten were believed to be a great potential partnership based on geography and the academic standards at the school.

Now that the conference has bumped up to 12 teams, though, it’s doubtful that there’s any room left for the Tigers.

If the Big Ten did add Missouri, the conference would have to then look to add a 14th team like Rutgers or Notre Dame and that could be quite difficult to pull off.

This was the move that made a lot of sense last summer, but as it stands right now, it’s hard to see Missouri fitting into the Big Ten’s future plans.

ACC

This type of move seems like a long shot, because the geography just doesn’t make much sense.

Now that the ACC has 14 member schools, however, the conference could be looking to become the first true 16-team superconference.

With a free agent name like Missouri floating out there, the ACC could show some interest.

The conference would also have to add a team like Connecticut, Rutgers or Notre Dame to get to 16 teams, though, and it seems like this is the least likely scenario at this point.

Return to the Big 12

Even though Missouri has now voted to explore its options outside of the Big 12, there’s always a chance that the Tigers could end up back in the conference. 

The Big 12 can’t afford anymore defections. It’s likely that the conference could come up with an enticing deal to tempt Missouri to stay.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the conference, school officials will certainly have to weigh their options carefully.

If Missouri stays, there will only be nine teams remaining in the Big 12, and even though the conference has a terrific TV deal in place, the future stability of the league is still very much in doubt.

The Big 12 still has some work to do and the conference needs to invite other schools like TCU, Air Force and Houston to come join.

Missouri may not want to stick around in a conference with that type of uncertainty.