While the Big 12 is awaiting Missouri’s decision, the conference is already prepared to move forward.

According to a report in The New York Times, West Virginia U. has applied for membership in the Big 12 and has already been accepted by the conference. The deal will become official once minor legal issues are worked out with the Big 12 and Big East.

The legal issues include the negotiation of exit penalties and the restructuring of conference schedules and television contracts. According to the report, the Big 12 intends to stay at 10 teams, only adding West Virginia.

The Big East voted last week to double its exit fee, but West Virginia will only have to pay the original $5 million penalty if they leave before the Big East expands. West Virginia’s departure will leave the Big East with just five football members, jeopardizing the conference’s status as an automatic qualifier for the BCS.

The Big 12 is operating under the assumption that Missouri is inevitably bound for the Southeastern Conference. Missouri Chancellor Brady Deaton’s comments Tuesday morning to Columbia radio station KFRU strongly supports the belief that Missouri and the Big 12 have parted ways.

“We feel a great urgency to clarify” the decision “as quickly as possible,” Deaton said. “It’s hard to put a timeframe on it. Our hopes were days, possibly a week or two.”

Deaton acknowledged that he wants to maintain the school’s traditional rivalries, but he believes Missouri has to do what’s best for them in the changing climate of collegiate athletics.

“It’s often the case where our head has to outweigh our heart in achieving some of the objectives, because the heart won’t necessarily in this case lead to where the university is going and needs to be going,” Deaton said.