The University of Missouri announced Sunday that it will officially be leaving the Big 12 Conference for the Southeastern Conference, effective July 1, 2012.

The SEC voted unanimously to allow Missouri into the conference for next season, according to The Associated Press.

“The Southeastern Conference is a highly successful, stable, premier athletic conference that offers exciting opportunities for the University of Missouri,” said Missouri Chancellor Brady J. Deaton in a statement. “We believe the Southeastern Conference is an outstanding home for the Mizzou Tigers, and we take great pride in our association with this distinguished league.”

Missouri’s addition will make it the 14th school in the SEC after the addition of Texas A&M, which announced that it will leave the Big 12 for the SEC in late September. The two schools will be the first additions to the SEC since 1991, when Arkansas and South Carolina joined the conference to bring it to its current format of 12 teams.

“The Presidents and Chancellors of the Southeastern Conference are pleased to welcome the University of Missouri to the SEC,” said Florida President Bernie Machen in a statement. “The University of Missouri is a prestigious academic institution with a strong athletic tradition and a culture similar to our current institutions.”

Missouri is the fourth team — along with Texas A&M — to leave the Big 12 since July 2011, when Nebraska and Colorado departed for the Big Ten and Pac-12.

Missouri was a founding member of the Big 12 in 1907 — then known as the Big Eight — and has competed in the league ever since.

The departure of Missouri could potentially end its rivalry with Kansas, which stems from the schools’ respective states’ dispositions toward one another during the Civil War. The two have been competing in football since 1891, which is the oldest matchup in the sport west of the Mississippi River.

“The decision by the University of Missouri to leave the Big 12 Conference is disappointing,” said Interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas in a statement. “Mizzou has been a valuable member, with a Conference connection to schools in the Big 12 that dates back to 1907. I personally believe this decision is a mistake and that Missouri is a better fit in the Big 12.”

In late October, Missouri’s supposed departure was met with a response from the Big 12, as it added West Virginia to the conference. However, West Virginia is facing legal troubles with its current conference, the Big East, with its move to the Big 12 — which is slated to take effect July 1, 2012.

The Big East has been trying to enforce its 27-month notification policy for members trying to exit the conference, which would keep West Virginia out of the Big 12 for the next two years. A lawsuit has been filed in retaliation by West Virginia and is currently pending.

West Virginia’s acceptance into the Big 12 was a move made in anticipation for Missouri’s departure, since the conference needs 10 members to keep its TV contracts intact, according to the report.

In the official news release from the Big 12 on Oct. 28, it did not list Missouri as one of the 10 schools of the conference, a clear indication that the school was already out the door at that point in the conference realignment debacle.

There is a possibility, though, that Missouri could stay in the Big 12 until West Virginia is officially able to escape its legal troubles with the Big East and join the conference, according to the report.

However, Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor David Williams said the conference felt it needed to go to 14 teams to balance out scheduling for next season.

As for what division Missouri would be in once it enters the SEC, Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long tweeted that it will most likely be in the SEC East to compete with Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.

Check back to iowastatedaily.net as this story develops.