SEC Football: 4 expansion candidates the conference should avoid

Texas Tech

From an athletic perspective, the Texas Tech Red Raiders might actually make the most sense as a potential expansion candidate of any of the schools on this list. Texas Tech does have potential in the football program under new head coach and former Baylor Bears associate head coach Joey McGuire.

The men’s basketball and baseball programs are also noteworthy due to their recent sustained success on the national scene. Texas Tech proved after the departure of former head basketball coach Chris Beard to the Texas Longhorns that the men’s hoops program can still sustain success, which was a major win in Lubbock.

Moreover, if the football program can become more competitive on the national scene again under McGuire’s regime, then Texas Tech would become a much more viable expansion candidate for a number of different major conferences. But it still doesn’t look like the Red Raiders make much sense for the SEC for a few reasons.

For one, the SEC doesn’t really need the TV market and/or recruiting grounds around the panhandle of Texas considering the conference will already have Texas and Texas A&M in the mix.

Secondly, the Texas Tech doesn’t bring much to the table from the perspective of a national brand or academic prowess. Those two standpoints are still important for the SEC when considering possible expansion candidates.

There are much more prominent institutions out there that the SEC could consider for expansion even in the state of Texas than Texas Tech. That includes the likes of the TCU Horned Frogs and Baylor.

All in all, I get the appeal of Texas Tech as an expansion candidate for conferences such as the PAC-12 or even the ACC. But the Big Ten and SEC probably won’t consider Tech a realistic option in this conversation.