I figured I would lay out a list of priorities that I think the SEC should consider when selecting expansion candidates.

Ultimately, the moves have to pad the bottom line. No-brainer there. There are various ways to pad the bottom line though and so I'd like to outline a few of those.

1. More and better football match-ups.

Football revenue still pays most of the bills so you need to increase the overall quality of the match-ups. There aren't a lot of schools that do this for the SEC as it's already a league full of quality and passionate fan bases.

2. New markets

While TV's market model is fading, there is still value in adding new markets because it creates interest among locals that otherwise might not be watching your games.

3. Basketball quality.

It's true that basketball doesn't make as much money as football and it's really not even close, but there are arbitrary reasons the disparity is so significant. We need to prepare for a future where the NCAA basketball tournament isn't the biggest game in town. Part of that will be making sure we add better basketball products and part of that will be ensuring we're at the forefront of creating a new system.

Also, think of basketball as a different division within a company rather than a separate entity.

4. Network profitability and integrity

Especially as we move towards a future where streaming is probably the predominant method of delivery, we need to consider what will make the SEC Network profitable. A big part of that is just making sure we've got quality content throughout the year. Football season, basketball season, and Spring sports season...

We need to make sure what we're broadcasting is watchable to large numbers of people.

5. Long term stability and flexibility

I think this is maybe an underrated priority, but we need to make sure we're in a position that both prevents other leagues from picking off our members as well as ensures we don't have to bow to every whim of ESPN or any other network. Creating as much economic might as possible is really the way to do this.

6. Academic integrity

Adding schools that improve our academic standing is a good way to make sure everyone sticks together as there are benefits to being judged according to the company you keep.

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I humbly submit then that this pretty much does it...

West: Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas
Central: Texas A&M, LSU, Arkansas, Missouri, Ole Miss
South: Mississippi State, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee, Vanderbilt
East: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia