The TCU Horned Frogs have agreed to join the Big 12 conference despite originally planning on joining the Big East according to Bret McMurphy of CBS Sports.. TCU will have to pay the Big East a $5 million exit fee as part of its' release but won't by subject to the conferences normal 27-month notification requirement. TCU will join the Big 12 for the 2012-2013 school year.
The Big 12 will now wait and see what Missouri decides to do while they're being courted by the SEC and deciding how to go about their future.
The decision from TCU does give the Big 12 conference some hope of survival despite losing Nebraska to the Big 10 and Colorado to the Pac 12. You wouldn't think that TCU would agree to join a conference unless they were confident of the league's survival.
The same can't be said for the Big East conference that just took another blow with the loss of TCU. They've already lost Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the ACC. The realignment of these major conferences is far from over but fans of the Big 12 can breathe a little easier now.