It has always seemed somewhat weird to see Missouri in the SEC. The Southeastern Conference’s roots are deeply Southern, and the identity of the “Show-Me State” is somewhat confusing. To the odd observer, calling it a Southern state wouldn’t be that far-fetched. Still, a true Southerner will tell you that anything from Northwest Arkansas upward, from the Ozarks upward, is actually Midwestern.
Missouri is not leaving the SEC.
However, its identity is so confusing that the state was seemingly with both sides of the American Civil War, never officially seceding from the Union (something some take as the true benchmark for which states are truly Southern), but had rival state governments, one supporting the federal government and another the rebels.
Returning to collegiate sports, it has always been strange that the Tigers have to constantly move south and east to face their conference rivals, instead of north to the Midwest and the Great Plains.
USA Today’s Blake Toppmeyer has a simple solution: revive the old Big Eight, if only in spirit. He wrote so in his latest column about Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos’ memoir:
“But, to Moos’ point, the old Big Eight schools belong together in a conference oriented around the heartland. So I’m moving Nebraska, Missouri, and Oklahoma back into the Big 12. That’ll restore annual rivalries like Oklahoma-Nebraska, Colorado-Nebraska, Kansas-Missouri, and of course, Bedlam.”
It’s also true that playing south of the Mason-Dixon Line has been a chore for Missouri. There’s no denying that the SEC is the premier athletic conference in the nation, a title only the Big Ten could rival. Maybe moving to the Big 12 could afford the Tigers a reprieve.
Missouri football has had some good teams in recent seasons, one that could arguably have a shot at competing for the Big 12 title. Competing for an SEC title has never been a reality for Missouri, having to contend with heavyweights like Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and now Texas and Oklahoma, too.
Why Should Missouri Stay in the SEC?
Simply put, money. The SEC has become a moneymaking machine and a darling of media rights. The Big 12 doesn’t have anywhere near the same appeal as the SEC does for media broadcast.
The SEC distributed a whopping $1.03 billion among member schools for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Schools got an average payout of $72.4 million, up from the previous year’s $53.8 million.
For comparison, the Big 12 distributed only $558 million in the same period, with some schools like BYU getting just $19 million. The average payout is somewhere between $22 million and $31.7 million. It truly means more to play in the SEC; it also pays better.
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