U. Missouri’s future with the Big 12 Conference is far from settled, but a series of decisions and announcements this week made one thing certain: Missouri has other options, and it’s finally decided to give them a closer look.

The UM System Board of Curators unanimously voted to grant Chancellor Brady Deaton power to explore alternate conference affiliation Tuesday. The announcement came after nearly four hours of a closed-door session between the board and Missouri athletics director Mike Alden.

Deaton also announced he would be stepping down as chairman of the Big 12 Board of Directors in order to avoid “perceived or actual conflict of interest” as he turns his focus solely to Missouri’s future.

“It underscores his singular focus on what is best for MU,” Interim UM System President Stephen Owens said.

Owens and Deaton both confirmed the school is not facing any deadlines from the Big 12 regarding a decision to leave the conference or remain. Owens said the board’s decision was made after the Big 12 began asking its members for “irrevocable commitments” by demanding member schools hand over media rights for six years.

“We don’t fault the Big 12 for asking for that,” Owens said. “It’s something it should be doing in order to provide stability. But because we are currently faced with making a long-term commitment to the Big 12, now is the time to explore options to fully understand where we are before locking into a long-term commitment.”

Both Texas A&M and Oklahoma made similar moves earlier this fall, but only Texas A&M succeeded in leaving the Big 12. The Aggies’ departure was briefly put on hold after Baylor led a legal movement to stop the move, but last week the school became the 13th member of the Southeastern Conference.

With the SEC potentially in need of a 14th member, the conference and Missouri have been entwined in rumors since the beginning of the entire process. The SEC officially denied rumors it had already extended an invite to MU but otherwise has declined any further comment.

Deaton also declined to comment about talks with the SEC, only to say the school is “exploring options generally.” However, it seems unlikely Missouri would make such an announcement Tuesday if it didn’t already have a particular conference in mind.

Following Missouri’s decision, SEC commissioner Mike Silve met with conference athletics directors Wednesday. But SEC spokesman Charles Bloom said in a statement that the meeting was held simply “to integrate Texas A&M into the Southeastern Conference and plan for a 13-team schedule for all sports in 2012-13.”

Deaton said he would meet with a group Wednesday to begin the process of researching Missouri’s options, but wouldn’t give an estimate of how long the process would take.

“That will require analysis and communication, and that will take some time,” Deaton said.

But the Big 12 won’t let Missouri go so easily. While speaking with media the day before, Big 12 interim commissioner Chuck Neinas expressed his belief Missouri would stay with the conference. He cited the equal revenue sharing plan for Tier 1 and Tier 2 rights that was unanimously passed by conference members.

Neinas was scheduled to meet with Missouri officials in Columbia later in the week.

“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,” Neinas said in a statement released shortly after the MU board’s announcement Tuesday.

Throughout his tenure as conference chairman, Deaton expressed a strong commitment to finding a solution to keep the Big 12 intact. But he said Tuesday that Missouri needed to look at its available options considering the continued instability of the conference.

“The Big 12 board has been doing what we could to establish zones of stability within the Big 12,” Deaton said. “As those discussions continued, we continued to have changes occurring from time to time with the departure of Texas A&M and the exploration of the Pac-12. Those discussions are continuing, and it’s a time where we need to explore the other options we have.”

Plans at this point remain in question.

“We certainly are not ruling out continuing in the Big 12 but we want to be sure we are doing what is best for our university,” Deaton said.