SEC Football: Top 5 expansion candidates for the conference

TCU has been one of the most consistent performers in the Big 12 since joining the conference from the Mountain West ahead of the 2012 season. Exiled to the mid-major ranks after the Southwest Conference split up in the mid-1990s, TCU has proven capable of playing up to its level. The Horned Frogs have gone bowling in five of six years after making the leap back up to power-conference status.

Gary Patterson has proven capable of getting the Horned Frogs to win at every stop along the way. Since taking over the team in 2001, Patterson has led TCU to double digits in the win column in 11 of 17 seasons. That he has done so in three different conferences makes Patterson’s success rate all the more impressive.

TCU would provide a second point of entry into the Texas recruiting market, and would offer a direct pipeline for all SEC schools to get into the Metroplex. Amon G. Carter Stadium has been renovated and expanded in recent years, though it would be among the smaller venues in the SEC. One imagines further expansion would be in the works with a bump up the ranks.

TCU has been one of the biggest climbers of the past two decades. Rebounding from its time in exile after the demise of the SWC, the Horned Frogs have rebuilt themselves into an attractive prospect should the SEC choose to expand westward.