re: Mizzou should jump on a chance to leave the SEC.

Part of the mission of any state university is to provide the service of higher education to the citizens of the state. As degrees become more and more required for every job the schools have to continue growing to fulfill their mission to the state. The requirement of the school to educate the citizens will generally require growth.

Population growth only compounds the issue until more specialized state schools come into existence or grow enough to provide a quality education at a reasonable expense.

Our research mission is strong, but the ag school (that would normally be housed outside of the flagship research university in most states) does take some of our pure research focus away at Mizzou as well as generally requiring less stringent admission standards.