The college football landscape is shifting yet again.

The Big 12 confirmed Thursday that it has extended an invitation to Texas Christian University to become the league’s 10th member after Texas A&M bolted for the SEC last month.

It’s like the Big 12 may not be done expanding with news earlier this week that Missouri’s curators voted unanimously to explore its conference affiliations with hopes of joining Texas A&M in the SEC.

While TCU has longed to gain membership into BCS conference, it has not given the Big 12 an answer as of Thursday afternoon, a source told BET.com. TCU, currently a member of the Mountain West, recently accepted an invite to join the Big East but the Big East seems to be falling apart.

The source believed TCU would accept the invite by the end of the day Thursday. That would put the Horned Frogs back in the same conference with Texas, Texas Tech and Baylor for the first time since the old Southwest Conference broke up.

"These discussions with the Big 12 have huge implications for TCU," TCU chancellor Victor Boschini Jr. said in a released statement. "It will allow us to return to old rivalries, something our fans and others have been advocating for many years. As always, we must consider what's best for TCU and our student-athletes in this ever-changing landscape of collegiate athletics. We look forward to continuing these discussions with the Big 12."

The interesting part is that TCU could have to pay the Big East a $5 million exit fee despite never having played a game in the conference. But for a private school with the resources TCU has combined with the school's desire to return to the big-time, raising the money will not be an obstacle to joining the Big 12.

TCU could begin competing in the Big 12 as early as the 2012-13 academic year.

Contact Terrance Harris at terrancefharris@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @Terranceharris

(Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)