SEC Football: 4 expansion candidates after Big Ten adds USC, UCLA

Oklahoma State

I personally believe the best expansion candidate for the SEC that remains in the Big 12 beyond Texas and Oklahoma is the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Since the SEC is already bringing in Oklahoma’s biggest rival in Texas, why not bring in their second-biggest rival in the Pokes?

Head coach Mike Gundy is locked in for the long haul as the head coach of the Oklahoma State football program. And there is a high level of investment in this entire athletic department, which would bring another well-rounded school to the SEC.

The icing on the cake here would be the SEC taking away potentially the biggest asset remaining in the Big 12 in terms of the value in athletics that Oklahoma State brings to the table. Oklahoma State would be a take for me in a hypothetical world where I’m making the decisions on conference expansion for the SEC.

Clemson

Clearly, the most appealing expansion candidate of any that the SEC could bring into the fold in the near future is the Clemson Tigers. If the SEC could somehow pull off adding the likes of head coach Dabo Swinney and the Clemson football program in the next year or so, that would really throw the entirety of the college sports landscape into pure chaos.

The SEC possibly adding Clemson would mean that even the Big Ten might not be able to compete in football with what is building in the southeast. Adding Clemson would also give the SEC a natural big-time in-conference football rivalry between the Tigers and the South Carolina Gamecocks.

And for as long as Swinney is the head coach of this football program, Clemson is likely going to remain extremely competitive both on the field and on the recruiting trail on a national level. Swinney and the Tigers having a “down season” in 2021 by winning double-digit games for the 11th consecutive year just goes to show just how high the expectations are for this program, and validly so.

It’s hard not to love the idea of the SEC adding Clemson if the ACC does wind up starting to lose some of its bigger members in this round of conference realignment. Clemson should be the top prize in this round of expansion for the SEC without a doubt.