ST. LOUIS -- It wasn't too long ago that Missouri chancellor Brady Deaton spoke of "working every day to hold the Big 12 together." Now he's been tasked with helping decide whether the Tigers are the latest program to leave a troubled conference fighting for its future.

University curators voted unanimously Tuesday night to consider leaving the Big 12 instead of committing to the league for the long term. The governing board's members agreed unanimously after a four-hour closed meeting at the system's St. Louis campus to give Deaton authority to look elsewhere, specifically "any and all actions necessary to fully explore options on conference affiliation....which best serve the (school's) interest."

And Deaton, the conference's public face through its recent turmoil, is resigning as chairman of the Big 12's board of directors to avoid the obvious conflict of interest.

Just one day earlier, the conference announced that presidents and chancellors of the remaining nine members -- including Deaton -- had agreed to equal revenue sharing and to seek approval from each university to hand over the most lucrative television rights to the conference for six years.

Now it looks as if the Big 12 might be losing two members for the second straight year.

"The University of Missouri is a member in good standing in the Big 12 Conference, and I anticipate the University will continue to be a member of the Big 12," interim Big 12 commissioner Chuck Neinas said in a statement released soon after Missouri announced its intentions.

One year ago, Nebraska defected from the Big 12 to the Big Ten, and Colorado left for what is now the Pac-12.

"What brings us here tonight is that the Big 12 Conference is now requesting that its members make binding, long-term irrevocable commitments to the conference," said Steve Owens, interim president of the four-campus University of Missouri system. "We don't fault the Big 12 Conference. It is something it should be doing in order to promote stability."

If Missouri were to leave the Big 12, one college administrator characterized it as "a shocker. I thought they were leveraging it, and leveraging it well, but my sense was that all along they wanted to stay in the Big 12."

Speculation has centered on a possible Missouri move to the Southeastern Conference, which recently agreed to accept Texas A&M from the Big 12 starting next year.

A Missouri university official familiar with the discussions involving conference affiliation told The Associated Press Wednesday that the school hopes to join the SEC, but would have preferred an offer from the Big Ten.

Missouri hoped to join the Big Ten in 2010, but the league chose Nebraska. The university official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the school has not commented publicly about its intentions, said the Big Ten remains Missouri's top choice, but that conference "has no interest."

Deaton declined to specifically answer a reporter's question about interest in the SEC on either the school's part or the other conference. He said there is no timetable for the decision, whether by a self-imposed deadline or a Big 12 loyalty demand.

"We're going to be exploring options generally and will be making no comments about specific areas where we have begun to look at," he said.

Conceivably, Missouri could remain in the Big 12, Deaton said, but the Tigers are officially on the market now. And the SEC could use a 14th member to balance a league that now has an odd number of teams.