When University of Missouri officials talk about the Tigers' athletic future as it relates to the Big Eight, they use words like "content" and "satisfied."
They bring out the superlatives when that future is related to the Big Ten."The Big Ten is uniformly high-quality public research universities," Chancellor Charles Kiesler said. "That's what we think we are. When we compared ourselves to other universities, we don't do it to the Big Eight. We're much more likely to compare ourselves to the universities in the Big Ten."
Kiesler and Athletic Director Dan Devine, attending the NCAA convention, are making no effort to hide their interest in joining the Big Ten.
There is no indication the 11-member Big Ten has a reciprocal interest. It has said it will not expand until 1994 at the earliest.
But the Big Ten is likely to add at least one more member in the next few years and would probably like to do so in a contiguous state. Rumors have linked Missouri to that opening, and MU is interested.
Kiesler said there has been no contact from the Big Ten, but if there's none in the near future he may initiate some.
"We'd have to take the Big Ten very seriously if they were interested," Kiesler said. "There's a fair chance a Big Ten connection if offered might be better for us academically and financially. If the Big Ten wants to talk, I'll talk. That makes people in the Big Eight nervous, but it's my responsibility as a CEO. It might be in the best interest of the university."
Financially, a move to the Big Ten would pad Missouri's budget. The conference won't disclose figures, but through football television contracts with ABC and ESPN, basketball TV contracts with CBS, ESPN and Raycom and a $6.5 million annual payout from the Rose Bowl, the Big Ten takes in a bundle.
The Big Eight gets $4.2 million from the Orange Bowl and some money from its basketball TV contract with Raycom, but it has no football TV contract.
The Big Ten, with almost 25 percent of the country's TV sets in its region, is in a far better position to cash in on future TV contracts. The Big Eight area has about 8 percent of the country's TVs.
"Big Ten income is on a per-school basis more than the Big Eight," Kiesler said. "Even if you don't go to a bowl game, sometimes five or six teams in that conference do, and you're going to receive a substantial amount of revenue. Then you've got that relationship with the Rose Bowl, the richest game of all.
"We're not planning to jump ship. We're satisfied with the Big Eight. But certainly we're interested."
"Our pedigree really reads more like a Big Ten university," Devine said.