Big 12 Football: 10 most appealing schools for conference expansion

6. SMU

One of the first schools that pops to mind when most college football fans ponder the Big 12 expansion conversation is Southern Methodist University. Speaking purely in terms of the football program, the SMU Mustangs look to be charted on a course back to consistent Group of Five relevance under the direction of head coach Sonny Dykes.

Similar to how the Big 12 should feel about considering UCF, there’s a lot to like about the potential sustainability of the SMU football program under Dykes. SMU now has two consecutive three-loss seasons to speak of under Dykes, with each seeing the team boast a winning percentage of at least .700.

SMU is also a strong athletic program in other sports, namely men’s basketball. And the academic prestige of this school, along with the comfortable geographic connection with the rest of the current Big 12 members, makes SMU a very solid and otherwise natural fit in the conference.

5. Memphis

From both a football and basketball perspective, the Memphis Tigers have to be a real consideration if the Big 12 wanted to expand. And it would be a nice geographic fit in the sense that it would bring the Memphis TV market into the mix for the Big 12. Being able to carve any recruiting niche that this conference can in west Tennessee could also help things.

Memphis became one of the regular favorites among the Group of Five programs to be a representative from the AAC for a New Year’s Six Bowl in the last three or four years. The Tigers have found consistent football success, and this is one of the more storied men’s basketball programs outside of the usual power conferences.

This should really be a no-brainer for the Big 12 to include Memphis in the expansion conversation, whether it be for adding anywhere between four and eight schools.