BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- Hey, Florida: Ready for road trips every other year to Columbia, Mo.? Missouri moved into the fast lane Friday to join the SEC East when its governing body unanimously authorized Chancellor Brady Deaton to potentially move the school out of the Big 12 and negotiate with other conferences.

Missouri will have at least the necessary nine presidential votes to be admitted into the SEC provided there are no legal or financial entanglements for the SEC and Missouri plays in the Eastern division, two sources familiar with the SEC's discussions told The Birmingham News. That would settle concerns by Alabama and Tennessee that they could lose their annual rivalry game.

Look for Missouri to soon apply to the SEC. Deaton became the first Missouri official to attach his name to the letters "S-E-C" when he said Friday, "We've provided information to the SEC, and we've asked for information from the SEC to inform us in regard to our future decision making."

Said SEC spokesman Charles Bloom: "Missouri has not applied, nor has an invitation been extended."

Jon Solomon is a columnist for The Birmingham News. Join him for live web chats on college sports on Wednesdays at 2 p.m.

It's a formality at this point, meaning we might soon return to talking actual football in this space on Saturdays. You don't go this far without knowing the welcome mat won't be yanked away.

My concerns about Missouri fitting in the SEC are well-documented. But from Missouri's perspective, this is a move it needs to make in today's climate.

Let's see, stay in the Big 12 and cross your fingers Texas and Oklahoma won't leave in a couple years, or head for the stability of the SEC? It's wiser to gamble on competing in the SEC and confidently knowing the piles of postseason football cash will always be there.

Missouri's board also directed Deaton to attempt to set up a holiday basketball tournament and an annual football game in Kansas City. That addresses political concerns Kansas City would lose major Big 12 events, including the 119-year-old Kansas-Missouri football game that has been in Kansas City since 2007.

Rivalries are the big loser in "As the Conferences Turn." Texas A&M-Texas? Likely gone. Kansas-Missouri? The rhetoric is heating up.

"The University of Kansas is a great Midwestern school, loyal to our Midwestern conference and to our Midwestern roots," Kansas AD Sheahon Zenger said in a good, old-fashioned statement that only lacked apple pie. "The KU-Missouri rivalry belongs in the Big 12 Conference. Should Missouri decide to leave the Big 12, we would wish them well."

Auburn had been willing to move to the SEC East for Missouri, but doesn't object to staying in the West. Alabama wanted to keep the Tennessee game and prevent Auburn from possibly growing its recruiting presence in Georgia and Florida.

Geography majors will scratch their head at Missouri -- home of St. Louis, the Gateway to the West -- in the East. That would keep SEC divisions divided equally between the six traditional football powers.

But Missouri in the East wouldn't be without a potential competitive imbalance. The West would become decidedly stronger than the East in all-time winning percentage (.605 to .573), bowl winning percentage (.530 to .500) and SEC titles (46 to 35).

Six of the SEC's top nine leaders in all-time winning percentage would be in the West: Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Arkansas, Texas A&M and Ole Miss. Missouri wouldn't exactly be joining the old Big 12 North. SEC success runs in cycles. But let's be honest: Missouri would be a contender this season in the weak SEC East.

The next question is when Missouri will start playing in the SEC, which wants to avoid the frustrations of temporary, 13-member schedules. Deaton said Missouri anticipates whatever decision it makes would apply to next year. Interim Big 12 Commissioner Chuck Neinas has said Missouri will stay in the league in 2012-13 no matter what decision is made. That sounds like posturing by both to negotiate Missouri's exit fee to leave after this academic year.

Who does the Big 12 add to replace Missouri -- West Virginia? Louisville? BYU? -- and how quickly can it happen? The Big East waits anxiously to see who takes its members next.

Meanwhile, by the time FX broadcasts Missouri at Texas A&M a week from now, that may officially be a preview of a future SEC game. If so, consider it one last punch to the gut of the Big 12.

Write Jon at jsolomon@bhamnews.com. Follow him at twitter.com/jonsol.