SEC Football: Top 5 expansion candidates for the conference

Let’s finish up by thinking about a possible team from among the Group of Five that could offer something of value to the SEC. While teams like UCF or Houston might seem like attractive propositions, there are more attractive targets within both the Sunshine State and the Lone Star State. A Sun Belt team is too far removed from being regularly competitive against SEC opponents.

Thus let’s look at the American Athletic Conference and its Western Division champion from 2017. While the SEC doesn’t have to go casting into the Group of Five waters for a new member, it wouldn’t be completely outlandish to invite Memphis. Several critical factors are working in favor of any potential bid to bring another set of Tigers into the fold of SEC schools.

Memphis would offer the conference a third team in Tennessee, and access to the 51st-largest television market in the country. It would also bring Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium among the list of historic stadiums in the SEC.

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Of course, Memphis is only a few years removed from a long bout of futility. Back in the last years of its Conference USA days, Memphis finished under .500 for seven out of eight years between 2006 and 2013. Their recent success, however, indicates that the Tigers have the potential to grow bigger with increased resources. The SEC could help awaken a sleeping giant by bringing a top Group of Five team like Memphis into the fold.