Hours after it was officially announced that Missouri would become the 14th member of the SEC -- a mistake in Chuck Neinas’ humble opinion -- representatives from Mizzou and the SEC held a press conference to go over some of the specifics of the new marriage.
According to Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton, that marriage will start on July 1, 2012 and the school will be integrated fully -- meaning financially as well -- right away.
“We’re not abandoning our past at all; we’re building upon it,” Deaton said. “We’re building a new future... with the spirit of inclusivity.”
“We clearly don’t do this every year.”
But it looks like Mizzou will in fact be playing in the SEC East every year from now on. "[It] serves us very, very well with the least amount of disruption,” SEC commissioner Mike Slive said about Mizzou playing in the East.
“It looks like we could be playing you next year... not sure if it’s here or there,” added Florida president and SEC board chairman Bernie Machen.
Among the other details discussed:
- Neither Mizzou nor Slive would go into any details about the process of bringing in the Tigers. Mizzou AD Mike Alden said he “looked at all [conference] options"; Slive declined comment when asked if the SEC had been in conversations with any other school
- Slive did note, however, that Texas A&M and Missouri approached him about joining. “We were fine at 12" Slive said.
- Missouri said they hope to continue to compete with Kansas in all sports. “It’s very important to us” Alden said.
- It’s still unclear how the lawsuits between West Virginia and the Big East will impact Missouri’s move to the SEC. “We’ve been given assurances [on the WVU issue]” Deaton said. “We are confident we will be able to erase any issues”
- Missouri did make it known that the six-year grant of rights agreed upon by the Big 12 for equal revenue sharing left the school uneasy. “When people start talking about limits, that doesn’t indicate something that’s really strong,” Alden said, referring to a timeline for equal revenue sharing; Slive acted like he didn’t know what grant of rights meant.
- Alden added that there were no threats of withdrawing donations from boosters if the school didn’t go to the SEC.