Big 12 Football: 3 expansion candidates that should’ve been included

SMU

One football program that has to really be feeling the hurt in this round of Big 12 conference expansion is the SMU Mustangs. As SMU will have to remain a premier athletic program in the American Athletic Conference after getting snubbed in this round of Big 12 conference expansion, head coach Sonny Dykes carries a real chip on his shoulder.

SMU is already competing on the recruiting trail with some of the better programs out of the Big 12. With the funding and the all-around athletic program strength there for the Mustangs, this seems like a really good option for expansion.

As I mentioned previously, I’m a huge personal advocate for the Big 12 expanding to 14 or 16 teams, instead of keeping the number at a dozen. And if the Big 12 does expand further, it’s very likely that SMU, and the final program on this list, are the first two calls that the conference’s administration makes.

You can already tell that Dykes and the Mustangs are using this Big 12 expansion snub as motivation on the gridiron this fall. Dykes and SMU pulled off the big upset on the road against head coach Gary Patterson and the TCU Horned Frogs out of the Big 12 this weekend in the newly coined “Battle for the Iron Skillet”.