Last week, Mike Alden, University of Missouri athletics director for the past 17 years, announced his plans to retire from the AD’s office and move to MU’s College of Education as an instructor.

No particular reasons were given for Alden’s surprising action, but it appears the move was his decision, and there is no indication he was asked to step aside.

There were the usual highs and lows in Missouri athletics over the years, but Alden probably will be remembered most for pulling MU out of the Big 12 Conference.

For years, Missouri officials had hoped and lobbied for admission to the Big 10 Conference, but being denied that, they pushed for and gained acceptance into the Southeast Conference. They turned their back on the Big 12, which they helped found, and their long history with the Big 8 Conference and its predecessor conferences.

When MU elected in 2011 to sever its Big 12 ties, Kansas University officials thought it best to discontinue one of the nation’s longest standing, most historical and most colorful intercollegiate athletic rivalries. If Missouri wanted to leave the Big 12, why should KU continue to keep the Tigers on the Jayhawk schedules?

With Alden’s resignation, there are bound to be some who call for a renewal of the KU-MU athletic rivalry. Most of the pressure is likely to come from Kansas City business interests who want the millions of dollars generated by KU-MU football and basketball games, and sports writers and broadcasters who want something controversial to write and talk about.

Hopefully, KU athletic officials will continue to seek schedules and contracts with top-flight athletic teams from throughout the country rather than cave in to please Kansas City merchants, sports writers and those in Columbia who turned their backs on the Big 12 conference.