Sources have confirmed to ESPN.com that the move of the Missouri Tigers from the Big 12 to the SEC was wrapped up on Friday, and the Tigers are expected to join the SEC in 2012, along with fellow Big 12 members Texas A&M.
This leaves the Big 12 in a bit of a pickle. They need 10 football teams next season to meet its obligations to its football TV contracts (the drivers of this whole thing), but the Big East is enforcing the 27-month waiting period on West Virginia, who is trying to join the Big 12. West Virginia has sued to get out early, but it’s not clear how successful the suit will be (the Big East has said in the past that the 27-month waiting period was ironclad). Without West Virginia joining as Missouri is leaving, The Big 12 will fall below this threshold.
Ultimately, this means that unless West Virginia can get out of their Big East obligations sooner than expected, the remaining Big 12 schools will probably file suit against Missouri, much as we saw when Texas A&M tried to leave.
For the SEC, this will bump them up to 14 teams, including 5 huge new television markets (San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, St. Louis, and Kansas City).
For a full breakdown of how each team fits into their new conference, check out our previous post on the issue here. Louisville has decided to stay put in the Big East, for now.
Here’s what the conferences will look like if/when all of these moves go through. As you can see, the Big 12 (losing their #2 and #3 programs) and the Big East (losing their 3 of the top 6 programs) becomes much more of a “haves” and “have nots” story. In contrast, the ACC adds a lot of middle depth to the conference, and the SEC adds enough power to approach the Pac 12’s dominance. The addition of Houston and SMU to the Big East becomes crucial for swimming, as they would serve as viable replacements for the teams that are moving on (though Houston doesn’t have a women’s team):
SEC Men (10)
Auburn
Florida
Tennessee
Georgia
Texas A&M
LSU
Missouri
Alabama
South Carolina
Kentucky
SEC Women (12)
Georgia
Florida
Auburn
Texas A&M
Tennessee
LSU
Missouri
South Carolina
Arkansas
Kentucky
Alabama
Vanderbilt
Big 12 Men (3)
Texas
West Virginia
TCU
Big 12 Women (5)
Texas
West Virginia
TCU
Iowa State
Kansas
ACC Men (12)
Virginia
North Carolina
Florida State
Virginia Tech
Duke
Pitt
Georgia Tech
Clemson (for now)
North Carolina State
UConn
Maryland
Boston College
Miami (diving only)
ACC Women (13)
Virginia
North Carolina
Florida State
Maryland
Virginia Tech
Miami
Pitt
Duke
North Carolina State
UConn
Georgia Tech
Clemson (for now)
Boston College
Big East Men (7*)
Louisville
Notre Dame
SMU*
Seton Hall
Cincinnati
Georgetown
Villanova
Providence
Big East Women (8*)
Louisville
SMU*
Notre Dame
Villanova
Houston*
Cincinnati
Rutgers
Seton Hall
George Town
Providence
*SMU and Houston have not officially accepted invites to the Big East yet.
