Report: Missouri has invitation from Southeastern Conference [UPDATE]
[UPDATE] The St. Louis Post Dispatch's Vahe Gregorian reports SEC associate commissioner Charles Bloom as saying, "The SEC has not extended an invitation to any school beyond Texas A&M since it extended invitations to Arkansas and South Carolina."
The University of Missouri has been offered a spot in the Southeastern Conference, but will wait until the Big 12 chaos settles before it makes a decision, according to a report in the Kansas City Star today.
The source told the Star's Mike DeArmond the SEC is willing to wait for Missouri's answer. The source also indicated the SEC had made a similar advance toward Missouri one year ago, when the remaining Big 12 schools stuck together after Colorado and Nebraska both departed the conference.
The two sides likely would prefer to keep the offer out of the public eye until the Big 12's future is settled, considering the legal action Baylor took when Texas A&M left the conference. If accepted, Missouri would become the SEC's 14th member, joining Texas A&M in the expanded conference.
This news comes a day after the board of regents at Oklahoma and Texas granted their respective presidents the ability to look at other conferences. Both schools are reported to be nearing a move to the Pac-12, along with Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. The Associated Press reported yesterday Big 12 and Big East officials have been discussing a possible merger if OU and Texas withdraw membership, but it is not yet known what effect a Missouri move to the SEC would have on such a merger.
Missouri officials have repeatedly declined comment on the future of Missouri and the Big 12 conference.