KU AD Sheahon Zenger says KU-MU rivalry belongs in Big 12

By Matt Tait     Oct 5, 2011

Amidst reports coming out of Missouri that MU’s board of curators had authorized Missouri chancellor, Brady Deaton, to handle the school’s conference affiliation, Kansas University athletic director Sheahon Zenger released a statement late Tuesday night pledging KU’s support to one of the Big 12 Conferences’s best rivalries.

“We value our long-standing conference rivalry with Missouri,” Zenger said. “We believe the Midwest deserves a strong conference for student-athletes, fans and alumni, and it is our desire that Missouri will stay committed — as Kansas is — to the Big 12 Conference.”

While Tuesday’s news regarding Mizzou did not seal the Tigers’ fate, it certainly did nothing to enhance their commitment to the Big 12.

Despite real change taking place in the form of new leadership and a conference-wide agreement on equal revenue sharing, Missouri remains fixed on looking around at all of its options, the most obvious being a potential spot in the SEC.

Although the SEC has not confirmed any interest in Missouri — in fact, on Tuesday, one SEC official said the league could remain at 13 members for as many as two years — reports continue to pop up all over the place about Missouri following in Texas A&M’s footsteps in leaving the Big 12 to join the SEC.

Although Deaton, who on Tuesday resigned as the chair of the Big 12’s board of directors, now has full authority to negotiate for MU’s conference alignment, no timetable was set for any kind of decision.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.