The Big XII, became the Big 10, then the Big 9, and it may be back to the Big 10 again.

The breakup began last year when the University of Colorado and the University of Nebraska, left for the PAC-10 and the Big 10, respectively.

This year Texas A&M announced they were leaving for the SEC and is possibly taking the University of Missouri with them.

It seemed that the Big XII might be finished, but Texas Christian University is now leaving its new conference, the Big East, to join the Big XII. West Virginia has also announced that it too has been accepted to the Big XII. More recent reports have pushed for Louisville to be the next team from the Big East to head toward the Big XII.

An announcement earlier this year stated that Pittsburgh and Syracuse were leaving the Big East for the ACC. There have also been rumors of Cincinnati, Houston, SMU and Air Force as possible Big XII expansion targets. Speculation onthe entry of all of Notre Dame’s sports but football, and only Brigham Young University football team have been brought up.

Some fans of the Big 12 conference want to move the conference back to 12 teams so the name doesn’t have to change and the conference can go back to end of year football championship game.

The main concern, however, is financial. The new Big XII’s multi-billion dollar television contract calls for at least 10 teams, and with MU leaving it, the conference down is taken down to just nine teams.

The loss of MU could also cause even more problems for the Kansas City area. Some major Big XII events, especially the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, are often played at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., and bring millions of dollars into the local economy, but with MU leaving the conference, that could change.

If MU leaves there will be no Big XII schools in Missouri. Will the conference allow the tournament to be hosted in state that has not Big XII schools? If not, this could mean the loss of millions of dollars of revenue for the Kansas City area every year.

The loss of Nebraska and Colorado, was a blow to the conference but not the end of the world. The loss of Mizzou could put an end to rivalry matchups between MU, Kansas State and Kansas. In football, KU and MU have the longest running rivalry west of the Mississippi River.

If MU won’t stay in the conference, they should attempt to expand, but the Big XII has always been a key part of the Midwest and it should not give that heritage up by bringing in schools from the East Coast. The next few years will be a defining time for the Big XII, or Big 8, or 9 or 10? Who knows.