It comes as a simple statement from Jon Wilner of The College Hotline, but it’s a major statement nonetheless. "Source: Pac-12 has Missouri on its radar," read Wilner’s Twitter feed today and this comes after he also recently reported that the conference does not have a deal finished with Texas. If anything, it’s clear that every piece of property in the Big 12 is going somewhere and no one is quite sure how it will all fall into place.
The Pac-12 is definitely going to enfold some members of the Big 12. There’s simply too much smoke for there not to be a legitimate fire there. Plus the conference has already added Colorado, and with such prime selections available, the conference does not want to miss out on the potential cashcows involved in names like Oklahoma, Texas and the like.
Missouri is the latest name and would represent a major shift eastward for the Pac-12. Colorado made sense, but now things are really stretching geographically. That’s three time zones the conference would cover, which really doesn’t make any sense. Perhaps it’s Mizzou doing some legwork on its end to see which conference fits best, but the SEC rumors make the most sense for the Tigers should the Big 12 collapse.
As for Texas, Wilner notes that there’s a lot of discussions still to be had despite any rumors to the contrary. Nothing is set in stone yet and both sides are going to have to give in a bit to make something work. That’s not a position that the Longhorns are used to, so anything is still possible at this point.
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